




V ' 




1 





Uncle Jeremiah at the 

Panama-Pacific Exposition 

Strange, Startling and Amaz- 
ing Adventures of the Famous 
Farmer Philosopher and His 
Friends Amid the Gorgeous 
Scenes at the Golden Gate. 


by cKM;^ TEVENS, Ph. D. 


Author of 


Uncle Jeremiah at the World’s Columbian 
Exposition, etc., etc. 


Illustrated by 

HAROLD F. COLSON 


The Hamming-Whitman Company 

Publishers 

Chicago 






fb 


COPYRIGHT. 1915. BY 
THE HAMMING-WHITMAN CO. 


JUL I 1915 

©CI.A406517 


PUBLISHER’S PREFACE 



T O the many thousands of Americans, young and old, 
who have enjoyed the stories of Uncle Jeremiah’s ex- 
periences at the World’s Columbian Exposition and 
elsewhere, this interesting old philosopher from the farm 
needs no introduction. In this volume we find the dear old 
fellow once more presented in the role of a cheerful friend 
of humanity, and the strange and amusing adventures of 
Uncle Jeremiah and his party at the Panama -Pacific Inter- 
national Exposition are described in a similar vein of 
abundant humor to that successfully employed by the au- 
thor heretofore. 

In Pickup, the boy scout, and Paquita, the campfire girl, 
two very interesting characters are presented that have al- 
ready met with wide approval; and the story of their fur- 
ther experiences has been related by the author in other 
volumes, which will be welcomed by their numerous 
friends. 

One cannot read of Uncle Jeremiah without coming to 
love him. And it is a matter of pride for all patriotic 
Americans that this truly lovable character is typically 
American. There are Uncle Jeremiahs in every community 
— ^brimful of brotherly love and of that joyous sense of hu- 
mor which makes life wor.th living. 



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L 


PROSPERITY REQUIRES VARIETY. 

Uncle Jeremiah drove his touring car up 
the private driveway opposite the yard gate 
and settled back in his seat for a highly con- 
tented survey of the pleasing scene. 

Peace hath her victories and prosperity 
her charms/’ he mused, ‘^but it gets monoto- 
nous. Self-preservation is the first law of 
happiness, but variety is the spice of life. 
Several other sayings could be quoted to 
show that I’ve got to have a change.” 

He heaved a sigh as he looked aroimd over 
the comfortable homestead and the well 
stocked farm. 

‘^Something’s got to h,appen,” he solilo- 
quized. “I am beginning to feel as contented 
as a mummy. I am drying up with satisfac- 
tion like a bone in the sun.” 

A shout from the rose arbor in the front 
yard broke into his reverie. 

“Discovered,” he exclaimed. “I can’t get 
into any picture around here without the 
Great Artist proceeding to beautify it by put- 
ting in some finer pieces of human life. Here 
she comes.” 

A young woman appeared skipping 
11 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


through the gate and around the car. She 
jumped upon the step and threw her arms 
around the old man’s neck. 

<< There, now, that’ll do for this install- 
ment,” he responded. surrender uncon- 



ditionally. What new tribute must I pay to 
the joy of living?” 

“Frank has come,” she whispered in his 
ear. “He was graduated in the same class 


12 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


,with me. He was the all-around athletic 
champion for two years. He is on his way to 
the Panama-Pacific Exposition to be captain 
of a company of Exposition guards. He 



wants some experience in the wild and 
woolly west before finishing his course in 
law.” 

^^Why, girl,” exclaimed her grandfather, 
‘^what on earth are you talking about? Put 
a head on your extraordinary outburst of de- 


13 



UNCLE JEREMIAH 


scription. Put a title on your story. Write 
an introduction. Announce the forthcoming 
production. Who is this wonderful ‘he’ you 
are exploiting as the hero of your romance?” 

She stopped his utterance with her hand 
over his mouth. A young man caime into 
view from the direction of the rose trees. He 
walked on around from behind her and stood 
expectantly at the front wheel. 

“Grandfather,” she said in introduction, 
“this is Mr. Prank Mulford, a classmate, who 
has stopped off between trains on his way to 
San Francisco. Mr. Mulford, this is my 
grandfather, whom everybody calls Uncle 
Jeremiah. If he has any other name, I hear 
it so infrequently that it would be unfashion- 
able to use it, even if I knew for sure what 
it is.” 

The two men shook hands very cordi^ally 
in the presence of such a medium of social 
union. 

Mr. Mulford was rather a hopeful-looking 
young jnan to the knowing eyes of Uncle Jere- 
miah. The old man could find no blemish 
through which to survey the youth before 
him, though there was no time for any satis- 
fying appraisement. 

“I am sorry my visit must be so short,” 
said Mulford, “but I see the trolley car com- 
ing, and I must take this one in order to get 

■ 14 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


my train. I am hoping to see you at the Ex- 
position.’’ 

Thus excusing so brief an interview, the 
two young folks turned back through the 
gate toward the nearest point to reach the 
trolley car. Uncle Jeremiah watched Merri- 
lee tripping along the walk with him down 
the long yard to the front gate and across 
the lawn to the car track. 

‘‘So this is the change I was asking for?” 
he questioned. “I wanted variety and here 
it is. Now I can have something lovely to 
worry about. I’ll have about as much effect 
on it as a fan in the bleachers worrying over 
his favorite batter making a run for home 
base. It will exercise my thoughts about as 
efficiently as they act on the problems of the 
great war. I’ll philosophize. Let me see. 
Courtship has for its trainers either the friv- 
olous or the important. The contributing 
spectators are of every kind. The game is 
played between the goals of the ridiculous 
and the sublime. Those who lose win the 
ridiculous and those who win lose the sub- 
lime.” 

The philosophical musing was interrupted. 
The rural route postman arrived, just as Mer- 
rilee was parting with her friend, and gave 
her a letter. Seeing Uncle Jeremiah at the 
side gate, he rode on up and also gave him a 

15 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


letter. A glance at the envelope showed that 
it came from a recent benevolent enterprise 
in which he had ventured to experiment. Its 
postmark was that of the county se^t some 
fifteen or twenty miles away. He opened it 
and read it with an expression of complacent 
satisfaction. 

^‘Dear Uncle Jeremiah: 

‘‘Our Pioneer Camp votes you their thanks 
for the hundred dollars divided into four 
checks which you gave to the Boy Scouts. 
We will send a boy with it to the Exposition 
to see what he can achieve according to his 
creed. He is to write out a report of his ex- 
periences for the benefit of his comrades. We 
will send you a copy so you can estimate the 
value of your benevolence to the cause of 
boy-manhood. 

“Eesponsibility is the magic word when it is 
made alive with interest. The boy who toils 
and suffers and sacrifices through one real life 
task is ever after that experience a man. 

“A normal boy will always find such a life 
task if he has the moral freedom in which to 
find it. The life problem is always ready for 
the boy. We must supply the means and the 
way. 

“Your contribution gives us the means for a 
typical “try-out’’ on this theory of the social 
16 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


way. Let us learn a lesson from the results of 
this case. Our boy will succeed. 

^‘Respectfully, 

“Secretary of Boy Scouts, 
“Pioneer Camp.” 

“Money well spent,” he commented. 
“Some boy will come back from that mission 
worth several hundred dollars more to him- 
self, his community and to humanity. I 
guess it’s a paying investment.” 

He was interrupted by news from a y^ery 
enthusiastic and vivacious intruder. 

“Listen here,” exclaimed Merrilee, perch- 
ing herself upon the running footboard at his 
side. “I have an invitation from Aunt Lot- 
tie to spend the summer with them at their 
ranch in Arizona. Listen to this splendid 
letter: 

“ ‘Dear Merrilee: 

“ ‘Paquita will soon be fourteen. She has 
grown up wild on the ranch since her moth- 
er’s death. Her father is away on ,a prospect- 
ing tour and has not been heard of for three 
months. She belongs to a camp-fire bunch 
and is determined to go with them to the 
World’s Fair. She has the Spanish love for 
adventure in her veins. I don’t know what 
to do with my willful granddaughter unless 
you go to the fair as her manager and come 

17 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


back here with her for the Summer. ^ She 
must be cured of such overabundant inde- 
pendence. She must be brought under rea- 
sonable restraint. I recommend the Green 
Tree Hotel at San Francisco. Can’t you meet 
her there and help her to learn that she is 
becoming a womans 

^Anxiously, 

^Aunt Lottie Havron.’ 

‘‘What do you think of that*?” exclaimed 
Merrilee, seeing a vision of ranches, exposi- 
tions and the captain of guards all in one 
swirling panorama. 

“I think that the war of invasion and con- 
quest is now on,” he replied. “All peace ne- 
gotiations will prove futile. The mobiliza- 
tion of forces is now the order of the day. 
Pay me the bonus, guar,antee reasonable 
peace for me and you can march across my 
neutral territory.” 

“Mercy on us!” cried the girl in alarm. 
“You don’t think this is war, do you, dad- 
dy?” 

“Of course it is,” explained Uncle Jere- 
miah. “Don’t we leave these peaceful sur- 
roundings and break through the center of 
environment in order to capture the glory of 
distant scenes, perhaps with ,a captain 
thrown in as a trophy of war?” 


18 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


^‘Oh! oh! I Tinderstand,’’ she laughed, 
that the verbal cannonading has 
ceased, we can proceed to take the forts. 

^^Very good,’’ he replied. ‘‘There is noth- 
ing like promptness and readiness. We can 
leave here next Monday morning and spend 
a week or two sight seeing on the way. Now 
to your guns. Give no quarter to the figures 
of speech.” 

“Good old granddad,” she cooed, patting 
him affectionately on the cheek. “You are 
so easy. It is almost a sh,ame to take the 
spoils. But I’ve just got to go. I have never 
seen Cousin Paquita and I like her descrip- 
tion. We’ll help tame each other. Before 
we bid each other goodby she will be a charm- 
ingly fashionable young woman.” 

The squawk of a chicken and the frantic 
flutter of wings around the automobile star- 
tled them. The bustling form of their little 
Scotch housewoman, who had been with them 
from time immemorial, came gyrating into 
view around the machine. She and her 
Scotch collie were making alternate grabs 
at a fluffy bantam rooster that alternately 
fought and flew. 

“I told that gypsy dare want that it was 
more than her fortune-telling was worth to 
try to catch a bantam rooster,” explained 
Molly, between gasps for breath, as the 

19 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


chicken made clear its escape. ‘‘Anyhow, 
I’ve done my duty, and the angels can’t do 
no more.” 



She waved her hand and shook her head 
at the gypsy woman, whom they could see 
standing irresolutely at the front g^te. 

“It didn’t cost her nothing to tell me that 
I was about to go on a long journey,” she con- 
tinued, “and, after many exciting adven- 
tures, would see my husband. Besides, it 
wasn’t very satisfying. All she could see of 
him was that he wore a broad-brimmed hat, 
a ruffled shirt and low wool socks. That was 


20 



UNCLE JEREMIAH 


mighty slight information to be equal to a 
bantam rooster. She thought it was a fine 
bird. I said I’d get it if I could, but I 
couldn’t and I knew I couldn’t. But think of 
it. Before she would tell me a word, I had to 
guarantee that the bird laid fresh eggs, but 
I didn’t commit myself any further than to 
guar^antee that all the eggs it laid would be 
fresh.” 

Molly went off into a long cackle of appro- 
priate laughter. 

‘‘I said we didn’t want to part with our 
best birds, especially not ones with such 
beautiful foliage. But it was banty or noth- 
ing with her before she would take a single 
look at my hand. Anyhow she couldn’t fore- 
see that I couldn’t catch that bantam. I 
guess there ain’t much more truth in us go- 
ing off on a long journey than there is in me 
seeing the right man by three such signs.” 

‘‘You are going to take a long journey to 
the house and get a hungry man a good 
lunch,” replied Uncle Jeremiah. “I don’t 
ask any pay for that clairvoyance.” 

The disappointed gypsy woman left the 
gate with a backward look as if she were 
throwing dire confusion into her prophecy 
for the -ungrateful Molly, and went on to her 
companions waiting for her down the high- 
way. 


21 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Molly paused a moment during the process 
of bringing down her highflown ideas to the 
more humble fulfillment of the more prac- 
tical prophecy of her boss. 

‘^I’ll need Molly to go with me to the Ex- 
position for my caretaker and chaperon,’’ 
suggested Merrilee. 

Molly’s ideas again rose in the air like a 
flock of wild geese, but she gathered herself 
together for common things and turned 
toward the house to obey her master. 

As she went on through the gate, a faithful 
fellow, who presided over the affairs of the 
stable, stepped out from behind the gate- 
post and walked affectionately along by her 
side. He was one of the last of the ancient 
caricatures known as the country rube. Ac- 
cording to an obsolescent vocabulary, he was 
a cross between a hayseed and a clodhopper, 
and likewise far from being ,a weakling or a 
fool. 

^‘Tou ain’t going to leave the farm, air ye, 
Molly?” he inquired disconsolately. 

‘‘Hot if I can’t git away, you may be sure 
of that, Mr. Abner Bean,” she replied test- 
ily, “but don’t you be thinking that I’m stay- 
ing because I’m any crazy about you. My 
man’s going to have ,a better job than taking 
care of a stable. You heard what the gypsy 
22 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


woman foretold and you heard what Merrilee 
said.” 

can foretell just as well as the gypsy,” 
Ab insisted, ^^and I foretell that if you go to 
San Frisky to follow up what she foretold. 
I’ll sell my roan colt and f oiler around to see 
about it. I’ll plague them fellers of yours to 
the end of the earth, plague take it!” 

Molly was flattered and exasperated. The 
latter mood prevailed and she gave him such 
a dig in the ribs with her elbow that he 
doubled up among the thorns in a near-by 
rose bush, from which he extricated himself 
Avith much difficulty and wounded dignity. 

Merrilee laughed at the spectacle. 

^‘If absence doesn’t help Ab’s sense any,” 
she thoughtfully asserted, ^‘and if it makes 
his heart grow fonder, you’ll have to inter- 
fere or insist on a clergyman.” 

Anyway,” she continued, ‘‘Molly is a 
faithful servant. I’ll have to take her along 
as general utility maid, with the title, ac- 
cording to the case, of caretaker or chap- 
eron, I will then be quite well prepared for 
sight-seeing, with you as overseer, cashier, 
and chief adviser of events.” 

She gave Uncle Jeremiah a pat and a 
smack and went skipping up the walk to her 
room to write numerous enthusiastic letters, 
and the old man, seeing the deluge of change 


23 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


now confronting him, urged his machine with 
some inconsiderate vehemence on into the 
shed. 

The few days of preparation fled swiftly 
and brought the morning when Abner hauled 
sadly to the station a trunk packed for two 
and a huge suit case sufficient for the toilet 
of Uncle Jeremiah. The three travelers took 
the trolley line and arrived in ample time to 
take the train, and also for Uncle Jeremiah 
to rehearse to Abner the instructions neces- 
sary for the artistic management of affairs in 
the absence of the boss. 

Abner tried hard to get in some kind of an 
affectionate goodby to Molly, but she had 
larger visions and Ab no longer looked good 
to her. 

But Abner was evidently descended from 
some ancient conqueror. He would not see 
such magnificent goods as Molly get away 
from him like that. 

He drove back home pondering so effect- 
ively that he hastily turned his instructions 
over to another farm hand, bestrode his roan 
filly and rode back to the livery stable of the 
town. In a few minutes, he had a roll of 
money in his pocket, and his beloved horse 
belonged to another man. 

Abner did not know much about travel, but 
he had seen passengers, of a rather undigni- 

24 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 



fied sort, to be sure, getting into box cars for 
distant points of interest, and be knew be 
could do tbe same. 

Tbe freight train was just starting in tbe 
direction be wanted to go, and when it pulled 
out of town, Abner was on board, fully deter- 
mined to enter tbe scenes, to bave bis say 
concerning tbe show, and to share heroically 
in tbe fortunes of family adventures. 


26 


/ 



UNCLE JEREMIAH 

r 



II. 

STARTING THINGS ALONG THE WAY. 

Uncle Jereniiali had just left Merrilee to 
finish her late noon lunch in the dining car 
when a boy of perhaps fifteen came in and 
took a place opposite to her. With the con- 



fident assurance given by youth, he ventured 
to ask her assistance toward mastering the 
unaccustomed bill of fare, and with the recip- 
rocal joy of youthful service, she helped him 
and liked him. Though she was soon ready 
to return to her car, by that time she had 


27 


UNCIiE JEREMIAH 


learned that he was a hoy scout on his way to 
the Exposition, and also she had cordially is- 
sued an invitation for him to come back to 
the observation platform and enjoy the scen- 
ery with her. He had promptly accepted 
with a warm glow of appreciation for the de-^ 
lightful privilege conferred. 

The invitation was indeed so alluring that 
his luncheon was very rapidly swallowed and 
he got to the back platform before his fair 
friend arrived. The train at this time had 
stopped .at a watering station which afforded 
a picturesque view of the great mountain 
ridges. Just as it began to move aw^ay, a man 
came climbing up the grade and caught hold 
of the gate in an effort to climb over upon the 
car platform. The boy ran across to help 
him, but he had not yet got a firm hold when 
the car came over an open culvert and the 
man went down. Horrified at the sudden 
catastrophe, the boy leaned far over the rail- 
ing. There was a brief vision of the stranger 
hanging helplessly to a beam and struggling 
to escape the long fall to the shallow stream 
below. 

A fiash of consciousness broke over the 
boy’s mind at the suggestion that here was 
an imperative call to duty. The train had not 
yet begun to gather speed. Climbing down 
over the railing he looked for a clear space to 


28 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


jump. He was so sure of doing the right 
thing that he never paused, and in a moment 
more was rolling down the bank. 

Though stunned for a few moments by the 
fall he soon came to full consciousness of the 
situation and ran around into the culvert, 
where he found the man lying unconscious in 
the stream, in much danger of being speedily 
drowned, even if his fall was not already 
fatal. 

The boy dragged the man out upon the 
bank, and with his knowledge of first aid to 
the wounded, soon had the unfortunate fel- 
low restored to consciousness. Fortunately, 
the stream of water had relieved his fall 
enough so that there were no broken bones, 
though the concussion of his head left him 
dazed and half out of his mind. 

Meanwhile, when Merrilee came back to 
the platform she found no one in the observa- 
tion part of the car. The boy did not come 
and she became absorbed in a magazine she 
found upon the library desk. 

The mysterious young man in the story she 
read was about to propose to the infatuated 
daughter of the millionaire, when Molly came 
in. With the motion of the train turning a 
curve, she staggered about the car and finally 
landed in a heap across the knees of an elder- 


29 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


ly gentleman as she attempted to make goal 
in an adjoining chair. 



‘‘What’s the matter with you, Molly 
asked Merrilee in some embarrassment, as 
she got her imsteady caretaker off of the man 
into a seat. 

“I don’t seem to hit the floor just right 
with my feet,” she replied, “and besides, as 
we go along round these mountains just a- 
skimming over the treetops, I don’t feel like 
letting down all my weight, so I don’t seem to 
stick to the carpet sometimes.” 

Suddenly she remembered her errand. 


30 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


‘‘Uncle Jeremiah says we are to get off at 
the next station and browse around among 
the scenery till this train comes by again to- 
morrow. Him and a man want to go out in 
the morning for a look at some of these grand 
cannons and mountain gouges.’’ 

“I’ll be glad,” she added, as if extended 
explanations were needed, “to sleep once 
more on terribly firmer, as the Latin would 
say. All the time I’m asleep on that train 
shelf, it is just as if some one was shaking 
me to w^ake up to get breakfast. Half the 
time I think I’m hollering, ‘All right; I’ll 
wake up in a minute.’ This morning, fergit- 
ting that I was not in a regularity bed, I says 
‘All right’ and stepped out about two yards 
to the floor on one foot and sprained the ten- 
dency in my ankle. Besides, it twisted my 
back so that them limberger pains came 
creeping up my spine like a dentist who says 
that he is boring your tooth without hurt- 
ing.” 

Then she remembered something else. She 
confided her indignation, however, strictly to 
Merrilee. 

“Say, ain’t it awful perilsome, the way 
them fool boys jump on and off of going 
trains? I was looking out of the window a 
few minutes ago and sure enough there went 
tumbling down the bank one of them very 


31 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


jump-on-and-off boys. He jumped ofiE from 
the rare end of this train. 

Molly knew nothiag of the case, but Mer- 
rilee became certain that the boy scout had 
fallen off, perhaps in some venturesome ex- 
periment, for there could be no imaginable 
reason why he would jump off. She called 
to mind that she had invited him to look at 
the scenery with her from the rear end of the 
train, and somehow she had failed to meet 
him there. She decided to make a search 
through the train. This was done without 
finding the boy and she became convinced 
that he was the one whom Molly had seen 
jumping from the train. As they were to 
stop off for a day at the town now only a few 
miles away, it occurred to her that she could 
get an automobile the next morning and ride 
back in a search for the missing boy. 

Uncle Jeremiah’s sight-seeing curiosity 
required them to be ready to get off at almost 
any station, and, much to Molly’s delight, 
they were soon exchanging the rattling 
earthquake of a train for the tranquil secur- 
ity of a mountain hotel. 

Molly’s grouch being somewhat mollified 
by a good night’s rest, she did not protest 
Avhen the automobile came around to take 
them back along the railway line on a sight- 
seeing trip, wherein she must act as compan- 

32 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


ion if not more professionally as chaperon. 
Merrilee^s mission was of more romantic in- 
terest. She was on a hunting expedition for 
a lost boy. 

The towering cliffs and massive overhang- 
ing ledges, as the machine spun through the 
narrow, rocky gorges, made their car look 
like ^an insect searching for a hiding place 
under the wide, leaning precipices, that 
seemed ready at any moment to shed a 
shower of many-ton rocks down upon the 



mites beneath. Now and then they came out 
upon the open ridges where the extensive 
perspective enabled them to obtain some 


33 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


measure of tlie vast upheavals of earth that 
had, countless ages ago, piled up the great 
divide of the continent. The long distances 
of vast solitude were indeed awe-inspiring to 
those who had heretofore seen nothing but 
undulating plains. Earely was a person any- 
where to be seen, and it was with much more 
than mere curiosity that Merrilee examined 
with her field glass an oddly improvised 
camp, which she could see in the distance, 
near the railroad, under a scrub oak and 
against a high snow fence. She could see 
that a boy was attending a man who had a 
bandaged head. 

The boy saw them as they came down the 
long slope toward him. He at once picked 
up a stick with a handkerchief tied to it and 
waved a signal of distress. There was no 
longer any doubt in Merrilee ’s mind that this 
was the lost boy and that he had leaped from 
the train on some errand of mercy prompted 
by the chivalrous creed of the boy scouts. 
She soon arrived at the wayside hospital. 
There they found the boy scout nursing, ac- 
cording to the most approved methods, a 
middle-aged miner who had fallen through 
the bridge-trestle and was so injured in his 
head that he appeared half tipsy and more 
than half foolish. Otherwise his injuries 
were of no consequence. He talked very lit- 


34 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


tie and then only in disconnected assertions 
about fi large nugget of gold that he carried 
in his pocket. If he knew his name, he could 
not be made to speak of it and the boy called 
him Nugget, in the absence of any other 
means of naming him. As if in retaliation 
for being so nicknamed, the man always 
called the boy Pickup, presumably because 



may have been, the two had taken an unusual 
sympathetic interest in each other and the 
boy decided that the two names were good 


35 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


enough for them until a successful outcome 
of the situation entitled them to a more fash- 
ionable or civilized greeting. 

From the best that could be learned, it ap- 
peared that Nugget l\ad found a mine of free 
gold and had attempted to board the train at 
the watering station to go on into the land 
office at the next town and file his claim. But 
evidently what he needed now was treatment 
in some suitable hospital for concussion of 
the brain. 

Pickup regarded it as his boy-scout task to 
take care of him. As Nugget had money, the 
reasonable thing seemed to be to take him on 
to the best medical attention that could be 
found in San Francisco. Accordingly, the 
two wayfarers were received aboard the res- 
cuing auto and increased speed was put on 
in order to make up for lost time in getting 
back to the station before the arrival of the 
train. But the way was largely up-grade and 
the progress was slow. 

Three or four miles were yet to be trav- 
eled when they saw the train, several miles 
back, coming around a turn in the mountain 
side. Meanwhile, the injured man had be- 
come very weak and sick. It was evident 
that the boy and man could not take that 
train. The chauffeur was therefore instruct- 
ed to leave them at the office of a doctor and 


36 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


take the two women on to the station, where 
they knew Uncle Jeremiah would be await- 
ing them with their baggage. 

They arrived at the station as the signal 
^^all aboard’’ was being called. Uncle Jere- 
miah was standing by the conductor in anx- 
ious outlook for them. As they sped up in 
sight, the train was held for them and in a 
few minutes they were again on their way to 
the great scenes of the Pacific coast. 

Pickup meanwhile had seen the doctor be- 
gin a thorough examination of his singularly 
dazed patient. Being of no further use, after 
he had explained about Nugget’s fall. Pickup 
went out on the arbored-in platform of the 
front door to study out what ought to be 
next in the course of events. He was aroused 
from his musing by a tap on the shoulder. A 
rather stocky-looking man of the plains 
stood on the ground at his side. 

‘^What’s the matter with your friend 
there?” he asked. 

Pickup, believing the question was 
prompted by friendly interest, explained the 
entire situation. The man listened with at- 
tention that impressed the boy as being more 
than ordinary curiosity. It made him feel a 
little less expressive or communicative. 

^‘Why do you call him Nugget?” the 
stranger asked. 


37 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 



was given him in the absence of any other 
name. 

The man was still more eager for informa- 
tion. 

‘‘So, so,” he exclaimed unguardedly. “Lew 
has at last struck something. He has found 
a mine.” 

“You know him?” inquired Pickup 
eagerly. 

“Know him?” he echoed with a revengeful 
sneer. “Down in old Mexico we were chums 


38 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


till he got my Spanish girl Paquita away 
from me. She’s dead now, but her daughter 
belongs to me by rights, and his mine of gold 
nuggets wouldn’t half pay me back. You 
tell him that Val Hone is still on his trail. 
Some day we’ll get even.” 

Pickup shrank back from the unguarded 
rage of the man. His courage failed him for 
a moment. Was this new element really 
within his duty as a boy scout? Had he any- 
thing to do with defeating hate? He felt no 
desire to get within range of a feud. 

Val Hone turned abruptly as if he realized 
that he had said more th^an he meant to say. 
As he turned, the chauffeur came up to the 
boy with a letter in his hand. 

‘‘Here is a letter I found in my car when I 
got back to the garage,” he said, giving the 
letter to Pickup. “I suppose it belongs to 
one of the ladies who went away on the train. 
They gave you their address, so you can re- 
turn it to them if it is worth anything.” 

The chauffeur then went away. Val Hone 
leaned over and spelled out aloud the post- 
mark, Arra, Arizona, as Pickup held the let- 
ter in his hand, trying to think what to do 
with it. 

“Let me see that letter,” he said in an in- 
solent tone. “I used to live in that town.” 

Pickup tried to slip the letter away into an 


39 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


inner pocket but Val Hone caught it out of 
his hand. He leisurely drew out the paper 
and read. 

“So, so,’’ he exclaimed exultingly, “my 
Paquita is to be a visitor at the Fair. 

“Young man,” he said, placing the letter 
in his pocket, “this is a very fortunate find 
for me. I can deliver this letter as well as 
you can. It contains all the necessary direc- 
tions.” 

So saying he went to his horse, mounted 
hurriedly and galloped away. 

Evil-minded men nourish their grievances 
for a day of revenge, as if hatred were their 
best friend, able to reward them for any 
fancied wrong or loss. The evil mind esti- 
mates its values in the injuries infiicted and 
never in the good promoted. Accordingly Val 
Hone rode away eager as a wolf on the trail of 
his prey. 

That night he arrived at a station on a 
cross-line of railway and the next morning 
took the train southward. When he reached 
the main line, he met every train coming 
through, and during its stop, walked the full 
length of the train looking for the group of 
campfire girls that was to contain Paquita. 
The next day his enterprise was rewarded 
by finding them having a gay time around 
the irrepressible Paquita. She had brought 

40 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


with her the freedom of her life on the Ari- 
zona ranch. 

It did not fit well with the needs of dis- 
cipline suitable to a bunch of campfire girls 
going to a World’s Pair upon the far Pacific 
coast. 

We always estimate conduct in ourselves or 
others according to our experience. Our in- 
telligence has no other evidence to use. Pa- 
quita had been brought up among cattlemen 
and cowboys who were ever ready to help her 
to anything she desired, and to fight to the 
death for her in any danger to her welfare. 
That had been her world of men, and she sup- 
posed all men were that way toward women. 

Val Hone saw at the first glance which was 
the daughter of the woman whom Lew Hav- 
ron had taken away from him. She had the 
look in every move of the beautiful Spanish 
dancer who had long ago crazed him with her 
eyes. Though the woman was dead, here was 
at last his chance to repay old scores and per- 
haps force from Havron the new mine of nug- 
get gold that he had found. 

He preferred that Paquita should not be- 
come :^miliar with his face and he therefore 
watched them from behind an open magazine 
which he pretended to be reading. Paquita 
was exceedingly weary of her cramped seat. 
She arose and paced up and down the aisle. 


41 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Obeying a sudden impulse, she sat down by 
Val Hone with the intention of making his 
acquaintance, but the chaperon pounced 
upon her and brought her back among the 
girls. 

You ’ll have to submit to the bridle and 
harness,” they cheerfully assured her. “You 
may be sure that this Uncle Jeremiah, whom 
you are going to see, will keep you roped in, 
hobbled and staked.” 

She thinks for a minute, and the others 
look on at this unusual spectacle, knowing 
that something is going to happen. 

‘H’m going to see the Exposition .alone,” 
she whispered in a tragic voice. ^‘You folks 
can stay roped in, hobbled, bridled, har- 
nessed and staked. IVe got money. I don’t 
have to be a slave.” 

She showed an ample roll of bills. 

can spend this just as well as Uncle 
Jeremiah. How you watch me do it.” 

Some of the girls thought it was a glorious 
idea, but most of them were quite properly 
shocked. The chaperon went back to speak 
to the conductor and Val Hone came into the 
seat behind them where he could hear what 
was said. 

‘‘Why, girlie,” cried one, “you’re a won- 
der for ideas, but what do you know about a 
city or expositions'? You’ll be robbed and 


42 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


scalped before twenty-four hours, begging 
the police to take you to your Uncle Jere- 
miah!’^ 

^^I’ll do it! I’ll show you!” she exclaimed. 
‘^I’ll get lost at the ferry. You girls all be 
scared and sad, but don’t give me away. I 
don’t want to be under anybody’s thumb.” 

Val Hone found everything working his 
way and he went on into the front car. 

The long journey was coming to an end and 
the campfire girls became correspondingly ex- 
cited. The train was skipping by long strips 
of water that indicated the approach to San 
Francisco Bay. They knew they must cross 
to the city on a ferryboat from the end of the 
railroad line, and Paquita was expecting to be 
met on the arrival of the ferry by the relatives 
who were to take her in charge. She reasoned 
it out that if she and her friends could miss 
the ferryboat, from that train, then Uncle 
Jeremiah, Merrilee and Molly would not think 
of waiting for another, and she could easily 
get away to see the sights of the city as she 
pleased. Some of the girls were eager to help 
her accomplish her reckless plans and they 
soon decided to delay things at the station till 
they had missed the first boat. 

At the ferry the girls were so interested in 
the scenes around them, that, before the 
chaperon could get them together, the boat 

43 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


had pulled away from the shore and they had 
to wait for another. 

When the huge ferryboat from the train 
arrived, there were three watchers anxiously 
scanning the passengers to see a group of 
campfire girls among whom would be the ex- 
pected Paquita, but there was none, and the 
disappointed trio walked away, leisurely en- 
joying the peculiar scenes around them of the 
great western city. 

However, with the next ferry came the be- 
lated campfire girls. A representative of the 
camp, where they were to go, was there to 
meet them. He escorted them to a waiting 
automobile. As they were climbing into the 
car, the chaperon noticed that Paquita was 
missing, and it appeared within the next few 
minutes as if she had everybody interested 
mthin a mile. 

Paquita, however, had gone about her en- 
terprise with the assurance of one who never 
failed to accomplish the desired results. She 
squeezed her companions’ hands and darted 
out through the crowd as soon as they 
stepped off the gangplank into the big ferry 
building. Val Hone could hardly keep her 
in view as she sped through the crowds. 
Coming up to the row of cabmen, she stopped 
to study what to do next. Her mind was 
soon made up. She called to one of the offi- 

14 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


cious drivers. He came over to her imme- 
diately. 

want you to take me to a place where I 
can rent a good room to live in while I am 
seeing the Fair.’’ 

Val Hone heard her. Seeing a young man 
near by watching her through leery eyes, and 
guessing his character at once, "V^al Hone 
whispered in his ear, ^‘You get her a room at 
Chin Garu’s and it’s big money in your 
pocket.” 

He slipped a ten-dollar bill into the young 
man’s hand. The fellow responded instantly. 

‘‘Let me help you, young lady,” he said, 
very politely, tipping his hat as he gave the 
driver a pinch on the arm to be silent. “I 
know all the best places in the town.” 

She looked at him with contempt. 

“Tend to your own job,” she said sharply. 
“I’m doing this! Whenever I want you I’ll 
whistle!” 

Such an answer startled him, but the ten- 
dollar bill in his hand was too good to be lost. 
The driver had already told her that he could 
take her to a good place, and waving the per- 
sistent young man back, she stepped in at 
the door. The young man had one foot on 
the step to follow. She turned and saw him 
coming in. Her hand doubled up, she gave 
him such a jolt in the stomach that he went 

4S 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


backward and doubled up on tbe sidewalk. 
The cab started off at her order, but the 



young man was not to be defeated. He 
sprang up on the front and, unknown to Pa- 
quita, climbed into a seat by the driver. 


46 


III. 

SOME ACCIDENT. 

Uncle Jeremiah, and his two companions 
left the ferry wondering why Paquita had 
not arrived according to arrangements. As 
they had a fraction of the afternoon to fill up 
in some way, they walked on enjoying the 
scenes of the beautiful Pacific city. Molly 
w^as meanwhile somewhat fussed up with the 
strained ‘‘tendency’’ in her ankle, and the 
“limburger” pains in her back, but otherwise 
was voluble and pugnacious as ever. Their 
pastime-wandering brought them presently 
to a parkway open space from which they de- 
cided to return to the Green Tree Hotel. 

Merrilee and Molly becoming tired sat 
down on a park bench to rest, while Uncle 
Jeremiah walked on up the incline around 
the bushes to a higher roadway to look out 
over the more extended scene. 

The old man was musingly admiring the 
wide extended panoramas of beauty when a 
rather dilapidated and seedy-looking indi- 
vidual stepped around before him and peered 
into his face. The benevolent old gentlem,an, 
not imagining any other object that the man 
could have than begging, instinctively put 


47 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


his hand into his pocket and drew forth a 
coin, which he placed in the man’s hand. The 
supposed beggar looked at it, gave it back 



and laughed. Then he likewise put his hand 
into his pocket and drew forth large, rag- 
ged piece of yellow metal which he held up 
before Uncle Jeremiah, laughing in derision. 
At this point a boy, likewise rather the worse 
for wear, came up, persuading the man to 
come away with him. But this only made the 
man more perverse. Still laughing in de- 
rision, he tweaked Uncle Jeremiah under the 


48 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


chin. This was too much for the old man and 
he gave the impudent fellow a whack across 
the shoulders with his cane. Such an unex- 
pected response to his teasing so astonished 



the man with the gold nugget that he stag- 
gered back into the road. At the same in- 
stant an automobile came whirling by. The 
man gave a leap forward and fell spr.awling 
upon his face in the road. There he lay as 
the victim of an accident and did not move. 
The driver of the machine, catching a glimpse 
of what had happened, slowed down and 
arose to look b,ack at the results. As this was 
done, the boy companion of the man who had 
fallen in the street, caught up a bicycle held 


49 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


by a boy who bad stopped to see the trouble, 
and darted away after the automobile. The 
chauffeur did not appear to think the case 
worthy of further attention. Just as he w^s 
speeding up again the boy caught hold of a 
bunch of tires lashed on the back and kept 
pace with the machine. 

Uncle Jeremiah, in consternation at his 
share in the death of a man, stepped back 
down arounid a clump of bushes and then 
came with unusual speed for so old a man 
down the incline. Merrilee and Molly had 
started up to find him. He caught them both 
by the wrists and hauled them after him 
as a child would drag a couple of dolls. The 
park bench in his path crossed his purpose 
to run further, and the three were at once 
seated in comfortable positions upon that 
convenient resting place. 

^H’ll show you the difference between a 
rabbit and a cat,’’ he explained, apologetical- 
ly, as his heaving breath began to assume 
normal motions. ‘‘You break the neck of a 
rabbit easier than you can that of a cat be- 
cause it is not so stiffnecked; that is, its neck 
is not toughened by as much strength of will. 
With the rabbit there is no will unless there 
is a way, but it takes more than a lawsuit to 
break the will of a cat. That’s why I have 
nine lives. That’s why I’ve brought the one 


50 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


I’ve got left down here to you loving children 
instead of leaving it up there in the road 
among the dead and dying.” 

He soothed the glistening spots on his 
heated countenance with an ample handker- 
chief of fluffy white, and looked anxiously in 
the direction from which, as fugitives, they 
had so hurriedly come. 

His granddaughter, as if these happenings 
were in the natural course of events, adjusted 
her hat ^d smoothed out her ruffled feelings 
with certain articles she extracted from her 
handbag. With this process of becoming 
trim, neat and cordposed, she seemed to have 
achieved a condition of ‘‘safety flrst,” and 
then the secondary interest became para- 
mount. 

“What on earth has happened to nq^ake you 
so sudden, so unsteady and so riled up"?” she 
asked solicitously, giving a finishing touch to 
the glisten that their haste had put upon her 
nose. 

“As near as I can remember,” replied Un- 
cle Jeremiah, “it was that I admonished a 
persistent hobo with my cane on his shoulder. 
He gyrated out in front of an automobile and 
finished up as a corpse obstructing the high- 
way.” 

Merrilee arose, drawing on her gloves. 


51 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


‘‘Then we’ll show them,” she replied, 
^Hhat the cat came back.” 

^‘You are correct,” the old man agreed. 
‘‘It might be natural for me to jump away, 
in a rabbit panic, but I’m a rabbit if I stay in 
it. We’ll go see what happened.” 

“No! No!” cried Molly, suddenly jerking 
them both back into the seat. “You’ll be 
caressed and incapacitated in some jail 
somewhere, and then what’ll we do with no 
protectors so far from home*? Let me alone 
go up there and interrogate.” 

They arose .again and she thumped them 
back into their seats. 

Molly was short and plump and likewise 
handicapped with uncertain age, but there 
was abundant energy darting through her, 
like the expectations of a hungry pig or the 
responsibilities of a bantam with her brood 
in a cow pasture. 

Before the confusion of wisdom or honor 
had rearranged itself in their minds, Molly 
had completed her mission. The little Scotch 
caretaker came waddling into view with im- 
portant information. That could be seen 
from the deliberate rhythm in her movement. 

Uncle Jeremiah had arisen. Merrilee 
pulled him back into his seat. 

“Sit down and be happy,” she explained. 
“Here comes Molly. She is able now to tell 


52 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


US more about it and the probabilities than 
we could ever hope to learn.’’ 

Molly came puffing down upon them, and 
fell backward into a restful position between 
them upon the bench. 

‘‘The joy-raiders in the ottycar are on the 
way into the hands of the law,” she an- 
nounced, without waiting for any harmony 
of operations between her vocal chords Aud 
ribs. “The boy partner of the tramp was 
last seen splitting the wind on a bicycle as 
he hung tight to the hind end of their con- 
traption. They were just carrying the dead 
man away in a cabaret as I got there.” 

“Was it so bad as thAt?” inquired Uncle 
J eremiah, again somewhat panicky with 
alarm. 

“It must have been,” she replied, taking 
notice of her lumbago back, “for I heard a 
man say they were carting the dead body 
away to the mortgage.” 

Molly took a deep breath of refiection on 
the vicissitudes of life and readjusted her 
lumbago pains. 

“We have courts at home that I could get 
into,” said Uncle Jeremiah gloomily, “with- 
out coming to this jumping-ofi place for such 
common sights.” 

Uncle Jeremiah arose, bringing Merrilee 
up with him. 


53 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


‘‘We have come two thousand miles to see 
the progress of civilization/’ he asserted 
with the decision of resolution suddenly 
taken, “not to sojourn in jails, but we can’t 
sit here like a bump on a log. We must go 
back and blow our horn in tune with the or- 
chestra.” 

They climbed the incline briskly back to 
the scene of recent dismay. 

As they came up around the shrubbery 
they saw a motley bunch of spectators, si- 
lently looking out over the scene of vanished 
tragedy. But the show was not yet over. 

“Look!” exclaimed Molly, coming up be- 
hind them, “the joy-raiders have gone clean 
around somewhere and the boy is still hang- 
ing on.” 

There was a hurried scampering out of the 
roadway as the touring car that had caused 
the excitement came swinging around the 
corner toward them, still far exceeding the 
speed limit. The boy so persistently hitched 
onto it with the bicycle was flung over into 
the grass-padded bank, from which he 
emerged like a bouncing ball, in a bewildered 
continuation of energy determined not to lose 
the malefactors who had run down his com- 
panion. 

“Where’s the witnesses to that fellow 
dropping dead with heart disease?” asked 


54 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


the car man. ‘‘We were already going on a 
hurry job to the police station when this 
thing happened. Get in and don’t waste 
time.” 

As the car stopped ,at the crowd, they could 
see three girls sunk back among the cushions 
in the rear seat, who seemed to be in a state 
of great nervous agitation. The driver of the 
car was evidently impatient and in a hurry. 

Uncle Jeremiah stopped Merrilee and 
Molly at the bushes by the roadside so they 
would not get into the trouble, while he went 
on into the crowd, and up near the automobile 
to answer in any way necessary for his share 
in the tragedy. 

“There’s the old hot-head that struck my 
friend with his cane,” said the boy, directing 
the policeman’s attention to Uncle Jeremiah. 
“Get him.” 

The policeman got him, but with reassur- 
ances that there was nothing more serious 
than a little inconvenience. He allowed his 
prisoner to go back for a few words with his 
women folks. 

“There!” exclaimed Molly, blubberingly, 
as she forgot all about her lumbago attack, 
“I knew he’d be caressed for distributing the 
peace. I wished we’d never thought of pat- 
ronizing this furrin shore.” 

Uncle Jeremiah told the two women to re- 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


turn to the Green Tree Hotel, where he would 
meet them as soon as he could get back from 
the station. Then he returned to the automo- 
bile. The car turned and drove away accord- 
ing to the policeman’s directions, and seeing 
no more to see, the collection of curiosity- 
seekers dispersed. 


56 


IV. 

A GETAWAY. 

At the station they found a disgusted po- 
liceman wrangling with a still more dis- 
gusted cabman. The dead body had vanished 
somewhere along the road. They had 



stretched the corpse out carefully on the car- 
riage cushions and reverently closed the 
door. The policeman out of respect for the 
dead had ridden outside with the driver. But 
when they got there, the cupboard was bare, 
so to speak. Somewhere along the road the 
bird had flown, as it were. 

Pickup was puzzled if not somewhat re- 


57 


UXCLE JERE311AH 


sentful. Nugget really needed him very 
much and he did not want to be compelled to 
abandon his benevolent task half done. Un- 
cle Jeremiah observed that he looked like one 
who had nothing to do and nowhere to go. 
Feeling somewhat responsible for the for- 
lorn condition of the boy he called him aside, 
and they walked away together. 

'‘What relation is the missing man to 
you?’’ he asked the boy. 

"Just the relation of a sick and helpless 
man to one who can help him,” was the un- 
expected if not astonishing reply. 

Uncle Jeremiah pondered over this puzzle 
for several steps. 

"Who is he?” 

"I don’t even know his name.” 

"What do you expect to get out of it?” 

"The training to be a better citizen of hu- 
manity.” 

"Whoever put that idea into your head?” 

"The boy scout creed.” 

"Couldn’t you have thought of that and 
used it just as well yourseK?” asked Uncle 
Jeremiah. 

"I guess I couldn’t have discovered hu- 
manity by myself any easier than I could 
have discovered gravitation. I suppose I 
wouldn’t know any more by myself that 
there is any sense in being a good citizen 


58 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


than a South Sea Islander would know the 
benefits of scientific sanitation. I guess a fel- 
low has to believe what is best from his par- 
ents and the company he keeps. I find that 
the more I get interested in such things the 
more I like it.’’ 

Where are you going?” asked Uncle 
Jeremiah, as the boy turned to take another 
street. 

am going back to the sanitarium where 
I had placed my sick friend, to see if he re- 
turned there,” replied the boy. ‘^I’m going to 
stick to my job.” 

‘‘Here’s my hand,” replied the old man, 
“to help you through with it whenever you 
are in any need. I would be glad to represent 
society in such a task. You can get me any 
time at the Green Tree Hotel.” 

The boy hurried away and Uncle J eremiah 
went hotelward musinig on this process of 
making good citizens for the civilization of 
humanity. 

Meanwhile, the young man and the three 
girls were gathered about the officer in 
charge at the station, explaining the disap- 
pearance in the crowds at the ferry of one of 
their girl associates. One girl ventured the 
opinion that the missing one was not lost at 
all, but had deserted them in order to get 
away from their chaperon or directress whose 


59 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


restraint she did not like. She had always 
been a very willful and independent campfire 
girl. 

The young man who had brought them in 
his automobile explained that he was in the 
crowd at the ferry when the group of girls 
found that one of their number was missing. 
In their hysterical efforts to find her, they 
were surrounded by a crowd of gazers who 
seemed to think that it was some kind of a 
moving picture rehearsal. He tried to help 
them to become reasonable and was so re- 
warded by their confidence that the chap- 
eron agreed to his suggestion that he take 
three of their number in his automobile to the 
police station and give a description of the 
missing girl. 

The circular notice putting the police force 
on the lookout for a lost girl was as follows: 
Name, Paquita Havron. Fourteen years of 
age; medium size, Spanish in features; 
dressed in traveling costume of campfire 
girls; home. Ten Bar Ranch, Paradise Valley 
near Arra, Arizona; on way to custody of her 
cousin, Merrilee Tanger, Green Tree Hotel; 
friends at Campfire Girls’ Camp, Buena Vista 
P^rk. 

The girls returned to the automobile and 
the debonair young man, whose dark,, keen 
features looked to them like pictures they 
60 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


had seen of princes from somewhere, perhaps 
from India, returned them to their chap- 
eron. 

Meanwhile, Merrilee and Molly left the 
scene of the roadway episode intending to 
obey instructions and return to the hotel. 
Their choice of ways and directions seemed 
at every turn to double in number. No sooner 
were they outside the park than each insisted 
on going in a different direction to reach 
their destination. They compromised by 
splitting the difference. The progress they 
made didn’t look good to either, but the oc- 
casional glimpses they caught at high points 
of the Exposition and the Golden Gate made 
them forget that they were wanderers from 
home. The uncomfortable feeling of going 
nowhere was increased by the discovery that 
darkness was fast coming over them. To 
stop one of the people hurrying by was, from 
their inexperience, an unpleasant task. The 
wayside travelers looked so independent, ex- 
alted and exclusive. However, something 
must be done. 

Molly saw a boy in uniform pompously ap- 
proaching, whom she thought she could han- 
dle. She put her hand on his shoulder as he 
brushed by and he came around as if on a 
pivot. 

^‘Say, young feller,” she authoritatively 


6! 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


demanded as he glared upon her, ‘‘do you 
know anything so’s we can ax you some- 
thing?” 

He stared at her with killing indignation. 

“Cut out yer kiddin’,” he exclaimed wrath- 
fully, “and talk to the point. I’m Eoy Jones 
of the quick messenger service. I’m taking a 
hurry-up detective message to a woman who 
has iost a cheeild. Don’t delay the service.” 



He was about to tear himself away in the 
pursuit of duty, but Molly detained him. 

“See here, you oncivil quick message serv- 
ice,” she exclaimed convincingly, “you are 
62 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


hindering the arrival of the delayed. Please 
forward us to our address.’’ 

‘‘Look atche,” he replied, in tones of deep- 
ly-pained feeling, “me on me first job. More’n 
a million now in this town and I’m the one 
picked out to be held up for something that 
everybody knows but me. You are obstruct- 
ing the highway. Unhand me and let me go.” 

He strode indignantly away as Molly 
gasped and loosened her hold on his uniform. 

“If we ever meet that boy anywhere 
around the eternal throne above,” she cried 
in disgust, “I’ll give him a raw piece of my 
mind right there before all the flapping an- 
gels.” 

They walked gloomily on, every direc- 
tion now looked wrong to them, with every- 
thing getting worse. Molly was blubbering 
over with language uncomplimentary to San 
Francisco. It was a place where the very 
laws of nature changed. She had already 
herself seen that the sun rose in the North 
and set in the East, while the streets went up 
and down like ribbons rumpled for display 
on the side of a sofa cushion. The stream of 
people had passed and only stragglers here 
and there swept serenely by. They saw no 
one whom they felt like encountering with 
their increasing trouble, until they saw ap- 
proaching the familiar figure of a clerical 


63 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


gentleman, whose pious meditation was vis- 
ible in rhythmic measure of his movements. 
His comely air and long-tailed coat clearly 
betokened him to be of the fatherly order. 
However, quite contrary to the usual custom 
among pious thinkers, his attitude did not 
assume the humble demeanor of bowed head 
and knitted eyebrows, but his head was well 
tilted back, and his outlook was skyward, as 
if his mind Was too high to think of anything 
lower than the handiwork of the heavens. 

Molly recognized the sacred book of her 
fathers, glistening with gold and leather un- 
der his arm. There was no longer any doubt 
that he was one who longed to serve the Mas- 
ter by doing so even unto them. 

She caught him by the sleeve and he turned 
his eyes down upon her without lowering his 
chin. 

^^If you please, sir,” she said with unusual 
diffidence, because of .awed reverence for 
such exalted self-estimation, as she brought 
him to a full stop by a pull on the coat sleeve, 
‘‘you are standing in the presence of two lost 
souls on the wrong road. We beg to know 
what we can do to be saved. Can you lift our 
feet from the mire and clay of ignorance and 
set our faces toward the Green Tree Hotel?” 

The interruption w;as majestically ended. 
The gentleman took one haughty look at the 


64 


UNCIiE JEREMIAH 


diminutive obstruction, and then executed 
half a dozen hasty short steps which rapidly 
merged into quick-time long ones. 

Molly was speechless with the gathering 
forces of an explosion. 

‘^Did you ever hear such gouty manners?” 
she cried, waving her arms like a windmill 
toward the vanishing spook. ^‘Look at his 
chin pushing clouds and his nose punching 
stjars like a billiard stick. He’s posing for a 
big job in the next world, he is. He’s looking 
up there now to be the first to see a vacancy 
in the trinity.” 

Molly believed herself to be not only care- 
taker for Merrilee but also wholly respon- 
sible for her conduct. She rarely allowed her 
charge to do any of the talking, but these 
failures, just now experienced, unnerved her 
and she made no protest when Merrilee saw 
a chance. 

A tall, slender young man, with glistening 
dark eyes and hair, fashionably dressed, but 
with much of a foreign air, was coming mus- 
ingly toward them, lightly twirling his cane. 
He looked Merrilee over as he approached 
with the swift glances of trained eyes crit- 
ically reviewing the good points in an artistic 
ideal of women. 

^Hf you please, sir,” she asked, as he 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


paused at her questioning attitude, ^‘is this 
the way to the Green Tree Hotel 

‘‘Well, yes,’’ he replied hesitatingly with 
a polite recognition of the honor conferred. 
“You can go this way, but I advise you never 
to do it again. This is the direction all right 
if you mean by way of the North Pole. Each 
step, of course, lessens the. twenty-five thou- 
sand miles you have to travel.” 

“Will you kindly tell us how to get there 
by the most direct route?” she inquired. 

“It’s a long walk,” he half soliloquized, as 
an expression of admiration began to lighten 
his face, “and you couldn’t get there before 
dark imless you called a roadracer and have 
a permit for right of way against speed 
laws.” 

“Here comes a very good machine for hire 
now,” he added, as a car turned around the 
corner. Without further consultation he mo- 
tioned to the driver. “I have business to- 
night ^at that hotel, and I’ll just attend to it 
now and see you safely home.” 


66 


V. 

VARIETIES OF EXPERIENCE. 

The very accommodating stranger ap- 
peared to be a gentleman of swift methods 



and before they could mobili2;e any objections 
he was helping them into the carriage. 

‘‘Bless my soul!’’ exclaimed Molly, as she 
settled herself comfortably among the soft 
cushions, “this certainly beats my specifica- 
tions. The Chii^aman and the Levite passed 


67 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


by on the other side but the good Samaritan 
has took ns in.’’ 

^^What else could a chivalrous gentleman 
do?” amiably responded the yoimg man, 
“seeing two such admirable ladies in dis- 
tress. You are here to see the sights of the 
city and I can do nothing less than help you 
fulfill your expectations. We will take in 
some of the best of it on our way to the hotel. 
This is my second adventure today. I will 
soon be noted for helping ladies in distress. 
I formd a small bevy of them a few hours ago 
weeping around a gaping crowd at the ferry, 
where one of them had parted company with 
the rules and struck out sight-seeing on her 
own responsibility. She discredited the 
chaperon as being a capable manager of in- 
dependent and ^11-believing youth. 

“But this isn’t getting acquainted. In the 
absence of military necessity I don’t believe 
in invasion and conquest. Let’s introduce 
ourselves. I suppose this is not a case of 
women and children first, so I’ll begin on my- 
self. I am a gentleman of leisure in charge 
of one of the exhibits in the fine arts building 
at the Exposition. My chief pastime is to 
develop experience among my fellow beings 
in the cause of humanity. I have no purpose 
and therefore no destiny. My name is Rig 


68 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Veda. I am a poet and the poem. I am a 
singer and the song.’’ 

‘‘I don’t want to be consumptions,” inter- 
rupted Molly, ‘^nor to paralyze any one’s at- 
tentions, but would you give us a sample of 
the way you poemate?” 

The poet seemed stalled, but it was only a 
temporary jolt. 

my optimistic views seem somewhat 
extraordirijary,” he explained, ^Hhen I must 
simplify. My poem is in the rhythm of life 
as it flows from the music of experience. The 
adventure of the day is my song. The poet- 
philosopher declares that I am a part of all I 
have met. This simplifles the process of be- 
coming and intoxicates me whenever I am in 
the presence of real beauty. But above all is 
the heroic relief of loveliness in distress. 
Such has been the poem of this day. To dis- 
cover the lost and to bring harmony out of 
chaos initiates me into the poetry of heroism 
and I am henceforth to my subconscious in- 
finity, the hero-poet. Rig Veda, at your 
service.” 

He bowed low in humble reverence for one 
having such a past to refer to and awaited 
their response. 

Molly was outclassed. She fell at once 
into disuse. She was stunned into a speech- 


69 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


less silence made from the overwhelming 
outrush of a superior vocabulary. 

Merrilee usually preferred to be enter- 
tained when conversation was composed of 
verbal fireworks, but now something needed 
to be said to the point. She had experienced 
nothing with which to compare this adven- 
ture and she neither knew what was needed 
to be said nor the point to be made, but she 
could make a dash for it. 

^‘Tour unexpected generosity has found 
us,’’ she attempted to explain, ‘‘on the 
streets of San Francisco, and lost us in the 
wilderness of propriety. I hardly know 
which is the worst condition.” 

“That gives me the chance to be a hero 
twice on the same occasion,” he replied. “I’ll 
rescue you from the wilderness, but first let 
us celebrate with a banquet of gay music and 
delicious viands before you crown me with 
laurels for restoring you to your propriety 
and proprietors. But here we are,” he 
announced, as his fl^ash of expression was in- 
terrupted by the stoppage of the cab. “What 
is a fiow of soul without a feast? Life is 
poetic and a poem only as we refuse to play 
the notes that are not in the music nor the 
song. The infinite spirit is real only in the 
notes that make the rhythm and the tune. 
You see I am not only a hero qualifying as a 

70 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


poet but I am also becoming a philosopher/’ 

He had assisted the bewildered occupants 
of the carriage out into an elaborate if not 
gaudy doorway, brilliantly flooded with 
quickening light that was still somewhat 
dazed by the grayish tint darkening around, 
as the dusk deepened into night. There were 
sounds of swaying music varied with tinkling 
and braying notes emphasizing the soul- 
stressing pathos of a woman’s voice. As they 
came into the fluffy scene, the tinkle of 
glasses rippled through the music as an ac- 
companiment to the laughter of girls flatter- 
ing the ardent ventures of their men. 

The imperative, voluble and rushing 
young man hurried them through the doors 
of cab and cabaret down the aisle of dazzling 
human wares to a table of attentive waiters 
holding chairs in obsequious expectancy, 
even before the two women could get their 
breath into any form of question or protest. 
A gentle pressure upon the shoulders of each 
promptly seated them through the combined 
means of suggestion, persuasion and violence, 
at the same time committing them to the ir- 
repressible interest of hungry people. It all 
came about with the neatness and dispatch 
suitable to a previous agreement properly 
staged to play that part in the given scene. 

^^You see I am not only a poem of heroism 


71 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


but also of loving kindness,” he began, as 
Merrilee was about to revolt at the swift turn 
of events from the expected arrival at the 
hotel. ‘‘I am feeding the hungry as well as 
restoring the lost. We three are hungry. It’s 
proper eating time for us and there is nothing 
to prevent satisfaction.” 

They were near the musicians. The blare 
and wail of sound, filled out by the billowy 
tremolo of a song, bombarded the unaccus- 
tomed ear, as the voluptuous lights and forms 
enhanced by the swaying postures of dancers 
down the aisles, bewildered the eyes and 
drove into confusion the assembling thought. 

Merrilee was alarmed. She wanted to get 
out of that bedizened atmosphere but she re- 
coiled before the idea of attracting attention 
and she did not know how to break the situ- 
ation. When might seems right because it is 
successful, nothing but a miracle of self-sug-^ 
gestion can give any chance for escape. 

Molly liked the show but she dimly felt 
that somehow she was not living up to her 
responsibility. 

‘‘Say, young feller,” she exclaimed, “You 
may be a poet and this m^y be a poem you’ve 
got us into, but all the same you are a male 
man, and we’ve never been introduced ac- 
cording to etiquette. I can’t be responsive 
to the inspectibility of this part without 


72 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


strict etiquette. As the chimpanzee guard- 
ing the reputation of this young woman, I re- 
quire proper introductions.’’ 

^‘Your honorable scruples shall be respect- 
ed,” obsequiously responded the poet. ^‘Here, 
garcon,” he beckoned to the waiter, “bring 
the proprietor here at once.” 

The proprietor arrived with his suavest 
smile, expecting to settle some dispute or to 
explain some alleged failure in service. 



“Will you please ascertain the names of 
these ladies and introduce us,” said the poet. 
“The chaperon here desires us to be gov- 


73 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


erned by the strict etiquette of high society. 
My name is Eig Veda.’’ 

The proprietor was fully up to the require- 
ment of all occasions. He did the honors of 
propriety. 

Whatever protests or comments either the 
chaperon or chaperoned may have had were 
soon put out of commission by the arrival of 
an overwhelming array of delicious foods be- 
ing served with such dexterity and careful 
concern for the appetites of each that the 
only remaining course of conduct was to eat. 

Molly did not long remain undecided before 
the display of dishes and dining instruments. 
She was hungry and the main need for intel- 
ligence in such a condition w,as merely how 
to get the food into her mouth. 

<<My grandmother told me,” she explained 
apologetically, ‘Hhat ‘fingers were made be- 
fore forks, so excuse me.” 

Her silence could be appreciated as the 
music broke into a balanced bombardment of 
sounds upon the gastronomic vision of food 
consumption. 

Eig Veda played his part in harmonious 
attentiveness and there was no discordant 
place where one might break in to change the 
fiow of experience. The show was so impres- 
sive and novel to Merrilee, and so tasteful to 
her chaperon, that they passively experi- 

74 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


enced it as a bewildering adventure thrust 
upon them by uncontrollable events. Even 
those coming ,and going kept within the line 
and action of the play. Nothing broke the 
scene except in one instance where a little 
girl came in alone and hastened to a small 
table against the wall at Merrilee’s left, 
where she was partially hidden by a fern upon 
her table. The girl’s big dark eyes drank in 
the show with comprehensive wonderment 
until she was interrupted by the waiter. All 
she knew to order was that she wanted some- 
thing to eat and the waiter had sense enough 
to get it. By the time her food arrived she 
had begim to see her near neighbors. Mer- 
rilee seemed more and more to engage her in- 
terested attention. Presently, she took the 
pencil attached to the menu folio, wrote some- 
thing on a blank space and tore it off. As she 
paused, thinking w^hat to do next, Merrilee’s 
handkerchief dropped to the floor. Taking it 
up unseen by Merrilee, she rolled the slip of 
paper in it and placed it on the table at the 
owner’s elbow. 

The hungry having been satisfactorily fed, 
their whirlwind entertainer now prepared for 
another dash toward the Green Tree Hotel. 
This change was signalized by the tempo- 
rary subsidence in the flow of soul from the 
hero poet. Molly had not yet recovered her 


75 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


power of expression. She was overwhelmed 
with more than she could digest. Rig Veda’s 
volubility did not seem concerned whether 
his listeners were entertained or satiated. At 
least, it confused their ideas enough to pre- 
vent rebellion and so far he had found no 
difficulty in handling the adventure. 

As they arose to go, Merrilee placed her 
handkerchief in her handbag. Seeing that no 
notice had been taken of her note, the little 
girl half arose to follow them and then sank 
back in her seat, for she was hungry and the 
waiter had brought her much that looked 
good to eat. 

At the sidewalk, they were hustled hastily 
into another taxicab and were at once racing 
away in blooming indecision regarding both 
propriety and results. 

A few whirling blocks and they were before 
another glaring focus of lights. Being already 
found and fed, there seemed no excuse now 
for their hero poet to provide any further 
means of distinguishing himself. Molly was 
therefore alert to protest. 

‘‘This is no entrails to the Green Tree 
Hotel,” she expostulated, as they were whisk- 
ed out upon the sidewalk into a stream of peo- 
ple entering the high domed entrance. 

“For the first time in your life you show 
ignorance,” their rescuer declared, in com- 

76 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


plimentary admiration. ^‘This is the rear en- 
trance. Come on. It is the last ordeal to a 
complete restoration of propriety and prop- 
erty.’’ 

They were swept in with the crowd, and a 
minute later, were seated near the front row 
before a very lively act in vaudeville. 

^^The lost is found, the hungry fed and the 
distressed must be made happy,” he ex- 
plained, ‘‘and here we are. That is the poem 
and the dream.” 

There was so much to engage their atten- 
tion before them on the stage that they could 
collect no ideas with which to frame either 
dissatisfaction or demand. In a vague way 
they knew they ought to revolt but it was not 
clear how they were to do it, or what they 
were to gain. 

In the midst of a dull episode and a stale 
joke on the stage, it suddenly flashed in on 
Merrilee’s uncertain senses that her grand- 
father had long before arrived at the hotel 
and was worried over their absence. She com- 
municated her fears to Eig Veda. 

“Why certainly,” he exclaimed, “if there 
is the slightest discomfort in your progress 
toward your rooms in the Green Tree Hotel, 
we will short cut the obstructions and arrive 
at once. Life is a poem only as it is mutual, 
in rhythm and rhyme. The interest that is not 


77 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


mutual is despotism and war. I am a demo- 
cracy. I am the happiness of reciprocity, I 
am equality or nothing. Many ways are no 
way. We will step through this side door in- 
to an alcove of the hotel parlor.^’ 

They arose and a few steps down the side 
aisle he opened a door ,and brought them into 
the familiar scenes of the hotel parlors. As 
they passed in through the parlor lecture 
room, Uncle Jeremiah came into view, gloom- 
ily walking back and forth about the hotel 
office. Merrilee ran to him as much relieved 
as if she were a castaway on a desert island 
just discovering a rescue ship sailing into her 
long desolate harbor. 

She had just explained the cause of their 
absence when Rig Veda came up to them. 

‘^Kindly introduce the hero of your recent 
adventures to your grandfather,’’ he asked in 
an undertone. 

Uncle Jeremiah, recognizing her new 
friend as the man with whom he had been 
mixed up in the automobile episode, assisted 
in hastening the introduction. 

‘^This is an unexpected pleasure,” asserted 
the hero poet warmly. was deputized by 
the chaperon of the campfire girls to tell you 
this evening about the escape of their wild 
young ranch girl. They say it was her theory 
that an Arizona girl doesn’t need a boss and 


78 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 

that she was ambitious to show all her friends 
that she can take care of herself as well 
among city people as among cowboys.” 

have full corroboration of your report,” 
replied Uncle Jeremiah. little while ago 
a messenger boy arrived here with ,a note 
from the culprit herself. Listen to this : 

‘Dear Uncle Jeremiah: 

‘They all laughed and said I’d be bawling 
for some one to take care of me ’fo!re I’d been 
here twenty-four hours. I’ve gotta show ’em. 
Just give me a chanct. Don’t worry. I was 
lost onct two days, and of course two nights, 
among the sage brush and I cum through. 
After I’ve showed ’em. I’ll cum into camp 
and surrender hands down with the guns in 
my belt. I’ve had one addventure already, a 
young man got fresh and thot he’d shunt me 
off into a bad neighborhood, but the driver 
said he had a girl of his own, so he spilled the 
dingbat out in the road. Your .affectionate 
niece, ‘Paquita.’ 

“As the girl has never had any interference 
from chaperons or relatives in her life,” he 
continued, “she couldn’t see any use for them 
now. Of course we must use every available 
means to find her. The police may do all they 
can but we must not rely on them alone. What 
else can we do?” 


79 


UNCIiE JEREMIAH 


“I know one thing/’ responded Merrilee, 
‘‘we can notify the Exposition guards 
through Captain Mulford. I will see if I can 
telephone him now.” 

She arose to go to the telephone booth, and 
as she did so, she drew her handkerchief from 
her handbag. A slip of paper fluttered to the 
floor. Uncle Jeremiah picked it up. 

“Looks like you had been somewhere to a 
wineroom,” he said, “from the list on this 
paper.” 

He turned it over. 

“O here is some writing,” he added, and 
read aloud. “Lady, you look just like a pic- 
ture I have at home of cousin Merrilee who 
lives with Uncle Jeremiah.” 

Eig Veda remembered having seen the 
little girl at the cabaret restore the handker- 
chief, but had given her no attention and 
could recall only very dimly her appearance. 
Merrilee had seen her come in and had then 
forgotten her. Molly had not seen her at all. 
And so, their observing powers had been of 
little use to them in the case. The hero-poet 
called a motor car at once and Merrilee re- 
turned with him to the Cafe DeLuxe. 

As they approached the entrance, a little 
girl was standing irresolutely at one side look- 
ing anxiously up and down the street. She 
was evidently uncertain which way to go. 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


The familiar landmarks of the wilderness 
would have remained in her mind, but the 
blooming confusion of ledges that were called 
rows of houses, and the long gorges known as 
streets, left nothing distinct by which to 
guide her steps. 

As the automobile swung up to the curb 
she recognized the passengers and shrank 
back behind a column out of view. Rig Veda 
and Merrilee hurried in to make their inquir- 
ies. Paquita looked in at the low window and 
watched them. Rig Veda suddenly turned as 
if he felt interested eyes upon him, and caught 
a glimpse of a form that he guessed was the 
one they were searching for. He hurried out- 
side, but the girl was gone. 

So far, the self-sufficient child seemed to be 
getting along very complacently, without 
feeling the need of either guardian, chape- 
ron or relatives. Youthful confidence was 
making the experiment with civilization and 
there was nothing yet to prove that it had 
any need for the protection of any special so- 
cial system. 


81 


VI. 

CATCHING THE WRONG MAN. 

Uncle Jeremiali desired to be on the Ex- 
position grounds early the next morning be- 
cause he believed there was where he was 
most likely to get a clew leading to his willful 
young relative. Molly went because she was 
anxious to get out into crowds. She secretly 
cherished an ever increasing expectation 
concerning a man with a broad-brimmed hat, 
a ruffled shirt and low wool socks. The 
prophecy of the gypsy fortune teller at her 
home gate assumed more and more impor- 
tance. Merrilee went to keep an appoint- 
ment she had made over the ’phone with Cap- 
tain Prank Mulford. 

The attentive young captain met them as 
agreed upon at the main entrance and apolo- 
gized for his inability to supply any comfort- 
able conveyance to show them around through 
the grounds. 

Uncle Jeremiah surveyed the prospect be- 
fore them for an extensive pedestrian exer- 
cise. Its beauty could be won only by a tramp. 
Every Exposition is a dumping ground for 
numerous inventions calculated to make big 
money. Any one of the visitors could be taken 


82 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


aside and aroused to the highest pitch of 
money-enthusiasm as an investor in these 
exposition enterprises, but put enough of them 
together to make a visiting crowd and they 
would be indignant at being confronted with 
any such inconsistent and unsatisfying mon- 
opolies, operating there to get their cash. 

^^You can take an electric chair or this 
miniature automobile train,’’ said the captain, 
somewhat uncertain that he was offering a 
very promising choice. 

‘‘That toy train looks more suitable as a 
plaything for children,” Uncle Jeremiah com- 
mented, “and the chair would set me to think- 
ing that I am an invalid. 

“Besides,” he continued as one of the chairs 
began to creep away like a snail, and the little 
string of mourners ’-bench seats, composing 
the toy train, moved off like an angleworm 
after a shower, “I can’t stay all smnmer. 
These conveyances are either designed to keep 
the visitors here overtime or such crowds were 
expected to arrive that a mile an hour would 
be considered dangerous.” 

“I know another reason why it shows up 
the big intellects of the Exposition bosses,’^ 
Molly interrupted very convincingly. “It 
makes the grounds seem so much bigger. You 
know my cousin in Scotland wrote me, run- 
ning down our railroad trains. She said her 

83 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


donkey-cart could make better time, for she 
had heard that it took four days for our slow 
poke American trains to go from New York to 
San Francisco.’’ 

Molly always had an endless chain of illus- 
trations when she got started on that line. She 
had to tell another. 

know that slowness makes little things 
look big,” she asserted, ‘‘because once I was 
more than two hours getting over a five 
minutes’ walk, when I was a child, from 
school to home. It was the longest road I ever 
traveled. My mother was about to lick me in 
spite of all my excuses and I had to ’fess up. 
Billy Sneed, he gave me a box-turtle for a 
birthday present. Some people as are smart 
eaters calls ’em terrapins and others as are 
smart in books calls ’em tortoises. I know 
that slowness makes longness because I was 
afraid to carry it, so I just set it down in the 
road, and shooed along behind it all the way 
home.” 

“Have an electric chair,” cried a barker for 
the chairs, coming up suddenly with the invi- 
tation clear as a fog horn in their ears, “only 
two dollars an hour. See the exposition and 
save your feet.” 

“No electric chair for me,” said Uncle Jere- 
miah, “I have not yet committed that kind of 
crime and I am not yet condemned.” 


84 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


‘‘Come on,’’ cried Merrilee impatiently. 
“We’ll chase the sights and scenes as the 
hunter does his game, and never know how 
far we walk.” 

She was joined at once by Captain Mulford 
and they led the way on toward the billowy 
domes and arches of rainbow colors unfolding 
to their vision back of the Tower of Jewels. 
They went around through the architectural 
dream known as the Courts of the Seasons and 
then across among the stately pillars before 
the entrance to the Palace of Art. 

“Many millions spent to make a scene that 
can last only a brief year,” soliloquized Uncle 
Jeremiah. “I am told that England, France 
and America are the only nations that love a 
show enough to think it worth the money. I 
must say that these artificial make-ups look 
rather feeble after you spent an equal amoimt 
of time in Mammoth Cave, the Grand Canon. 
Yosemite Valley and a few others of Amer- 
ica ’s Eternal Expositions. ’ ’ 

When the survey was complete Mulford 
took Merrilee over to the horse show to see a 
beautiful young race horse he had just 
bought on the recommendation of a friend. 
He had it now in training for the rival tests 
soon to be made for racing points and trials 
of speed. 

Uncle Jeremiah went on to the California 


85 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


building because lie desired to become famil- 
iar with the various resources of the great 
Pacific State. 

Molly stopped off at the amusement sec- 
tion known as the Zone, instinctively believ- 
ing it to be the more favorable region for her 
peculiar quest. She was therefore more in- 
terested in watching the throngs than in the 
glowing promises of sights to be seen inside 
the many gorgeously carved buildings. 

She was beginning to feel very lonesome 
for some one to talk to, and the prophecy of 
the gypsy seemed very remote, when she was 
suddenly thrown into a panic of confiicting 
thoughts from a vision that brushed by her 
and floated on ahead. The unexpected that 
she had been looking for had surely arrived. 
The gypsy woman at her gate had dipped 
into the future and seen things after all. A 
broad-brimmed hat that looked like the other 
two signs might be with it was ahead of her 
in the crowd. Then somebody going cross 
lots bumped into her and for a moment she 
thought the hat had got away from her. But 
fate was managing the case. Another look 
reassured her. The hat was still there. Now 
for the other signs. How could she verify 
them? She succeeded in getting up close be- 
hind him, when for some unaccountable rea- 
son he took hold of his trousers at the side 


86 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


of his legs, as Lady does her skirt in cross- 
ing a muddy street, and lifted them high 
enough to show a pair of low woolen socks. 

^‘Fate is making him do it,” she whis- 
pered in ecstasy to herself, ‘‘and iFs just to 
show that clairwants can see the facts.” 

Nothing remained in the chain of evidence 
but to see if he had a ruffled shirt. Fate 
would doubtless also attend to that matter 
for her if she would patiently do her part. 
Accordingly, the fated man turned into a 
narrow alleyway between two buildings. She 
followed him. He stopped and leaned discon- 
solately against the side of the building. Fate 
was touching his heart and making him wait 
for her. She must do her part. She touched 
him lightly on the shoulder, but he gave no 
heed. Then she modestly rested her head 
against the inner side of his left arm where 
she could see inside of his open coat. Behold! 
He had on a ruffled shirt. That was testi- 
mony enough. She felt his arms just natur- 
ally stealing around her. Then she looked up 
into his eyes. Then she blinked and looked 
again. She stiffened up and took a flnal con- 
vincing look. 

“You here?” she cried, trying hard to 
doubt her eyes. “You, Abner Bean, follow- 
ing me around on the produce of that roan 
colt. Plague take you, take that!” 


87 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


She stvatted him one on the jaw and that 
excited her to come back with another on the 
other jaw. 

‘‘Go it, Molly,” he cried, “that feels good. 
It’s worth coming all the way to San Frisky 
fer, even if I never see hide ner har again of 
that roany colt.” 



An Exposition guard happened to be near 
when the crowd began to pour into the alley 
to see the excitement. He rushed in and 
grabbed the two of them. 

“Let her alone, hossifer,” cried Ab,“them 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


is jist love licks. The more she hits me the 
better she likes me.’’ 

‘‘Is she your wife?” asked the guard as he 
saw the good-natured grin on Ab’s counte- 
nance. 

“Not yit, mister,” he asserted, “but she’s 
going to be just as soon as I kin git her away 
from the abstmctions and contractions of this 
giddy town to the pease and hominy of the 
farm.” 

The crowd began to roar with laughter at 
the satisfied grimaces chasing one another 
over Ab’s face as he looked from Molly to the 
officer. She saw a chance to escape in the 
crowd and in a moment she had vanished. 
With a good-humored shove, the officer sent 
Ab along the line after her. 

Uncle Jeremiah meanwhile was richly en- 
joying his journey through the immense ex- 
hibit of the State that was acting as host to 
the great Exposition. It was a rare show for 
the farmer that loved the best of all that was 
good, as gathered from the wonderful work- 
shop of nature. Like all free, open, benevo- 
lent dispositions, it was unnatural for him to 
be suspicious or carefully on the defensive in 
any peaceful or congenial surroundings. A 
plainsman of the aggressive, underhand type 
noticed this as the old man wandered by him. 
He suddenly took interest in this strolling 


89 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


stranger as being an exceptional one out of 
the many. The fellow had never been a 
sneak thief for he preferred to take toil in the 
more heroic fashion of the frontier highway- 
man. Nevertheless, he was always in need of 
more money and here was a bulky wallet in 
easy evidence every time Uncle Jeremiah 
leaned over to examine some specimen of 



farm produce on one of the tables. N(dhing 
seemed easier to a mind on the alert for gain 


90 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


at another’s loss. Uncle Jeremiali believed 
lie was free to give his attention to the good 
things of hiunan progress. He was at his 
ease in the midst of peaceful society. He had 
made a satisfactory survey of the magnificent 
display and was taking a fin^al look at the 
general scene when his attention was caught 
by a little girl making signals to him from 
around the comer of an orange toy-house. 
Not being sure of what could be intended by 
this unusual proceeding, he rather slowly 
obeyed the summons, when she retreated 
hastily to a position farther down the aisle in 
hiding by a table hea^^ed with apples, where 
she still motioned quite vigorously for him to 
come to her. Then he stopped and she saw 
that he thought she was attempting some 
joke on him. At this she presently ran 
around to him and said, ^‘You haven’t got 
your pocketbook any more. I saw it go 
into another man’s pocket. If you’ll get a 
policeman and keep sight of me, I’ll st^ay on 
the trail of the thief.” 

She ran back to her former place and then 
ran on farther down the aisle as she spotted 
the pickpocket getting away with his spoils. 
Uncle Jeremiah made several slaps and grabs 
at various pockets, but his well-filled wallet 
was not there. He caught a glimpse of the 
little girl still going. He knew that he must 


91 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


get busy if be profited by her keen eyes and 
swift feet. With a return of youthful agility 
he kept her in sight to the far end of that 
long building, and at the door he fortunately 
ran onto the captain and Merrilee, who were 
returning from the horse show in the stock 
pavilion. In another moment the swifter 
young man had caught up with the girl and 
was given a glimpse of the escaping criminal. 
The fellow was heading for the excursion 
boats, where he expected to be able to side- 
track any possible pursuit. 

Eelieved by the officer from any further 
responsibility, the little girl stepped around 
the concrete base of the great Oregon flag- 
pole and watched Uncle Jeremiah looking for 
her. A piece of blank paper fluttering along 
the ground attracted her attention. She 
picked it up and borrowed a pencil from a 
bystander. Then she wrote something upon 
it and walked around to Uncle Jeremiah. He 
thanked her heartily and wanted to know her 
name, but she laughed at him and held out 
her hand for a rew}ard. He didn’t have a 
cent. Then she laughed at him again, and 
unseen by him, slipped the bit of paper into 
his pocket. Then she ran away, waving her 
hand and laughing at him. 

The old man w.ent on toward the docks of 
the excursion boats, hoping to see the cap- 


92 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


ture of the thief. As he walked along the 
side of the low wall dividing the Exposition 
grounds from the beach, he came upon a man 
leaning wearily against the sloping side as if 
he were ill or very weak from too much exer- 
tion. His head was bowed and his face cov- 
ered with his hands. 

<<My good man, what is it?” he asked sym- 
pathetically, ‘‘may I help you in any way?” 

The man looked up as if only half imder- 
standing his questioner. 

“Ah! I see it is Nugget,” he continued. “I 
am glad to meet you again. You may be sure 
I will treat you better this time. I did not 
know you were sick from a serious accident.” 

Nugget did not reply, but he looked at him 
attentively as with ^ struggling memory. 

“The boy is hunting for you,” continued 
Uncle Jeremiah. “He is very anxious to find 
you.” 

“The boy found me,” replied the man, 
straightening up with sudden energy. “He 
found me at the Sanitarium. We came out 
here to see the Exposition for a restful pas- 
time. I was sitting here listening to the dole- 
ful sounds of that bell out there in the bay. 
The waves ring it night and day to tell those 
who listen where are the sunken rocks. But 
there is nothing on land to warn us of unseen 
dianger. I was walking along the shore try- 


93 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


ing to get my head clear of the rumblings in 
it, when a man came running toward me. He 
took a vicious look at me and knocked me 
down out of his way. I saw him enough to 
know it was Val Hone. Pickup had already 
told me how he talked when he came up to 
the doctor’s office where the ladies took me 
in the automobile out in Wyoming. Pickup 
was over there looking at the statues when 
he heard me cry out at the villain. He took 
after him and is after him yet. Just as I got 
up an officer of the guards came running 
after the same man. I guess the fellow had 
committed some crime and was trying to get 
away.” 

^^Yes,” replied Uncle Jeremiah, ‘^he has 
stolen my pocketbook. Can I call a cab and 
have you taken back to the Sanitarium?” 

‘^No,” was the positive answer. ^H’ll stay 
right here till Pickup comes back. I’m get- 
ting better rapidly. You go on and help get 
the man. That’s most needed now.” 

Uncle Jeremiah agreed with him and so 
hurried on in the direction taken by the thief. 
The pier for excursion boats* lay on one side 
of him and the harbor yjachts on the other. 
Somewhere in that region the thief and his 
pursuers had disappeared. Presently he saw 
Captain Mulford walking along the pier as if 
he had been baffled in the game. However, 


94 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Mulford was sure that one of the yachts or 
excursion boats alongside the pier contained 
the man he sought. All appeared equally in- 
nocent. One nevertheless was not so. He 
came over from the front of one of the half- 
filled excursion boats and sat down by a boy 
who seemed to be quite on the alert for • 
events. 

^^What are you on this boat for?” he said 
in a low voice to the boy, with a look that vjas 
meant to convey a withering command to get 
off of his trail. 

‘^You have no authority to ask the ques- 
tion, Mr. Val Hone,” was the reply. ^‘We 
are not here for the same reasons, but neither 
of us have to tell them.” 

Captain Mulford came walking by care- 
fully looking them over. The boy arose. As 
he did so Val Hone slipped something into 
the boy’s pocket, and with a quick dig of his 
elbow into the boy’s side, sent him over- 
board. Overwhelmed with the sudden con- 
fusion of the plunge into the water, he began 
blindly swimming away around the rear end 
of a near boat. It looked like the get-away 
of some one escaping an officer. Val Hone 
stepped around the cabin and disappeared. 
Captain Mulford, believing that the fellow in 
the water was his man trying to escape him, 
sprang into the boat and leaped over the side 


95 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


after the fugitive. The observers thought it 
was a rescue. But, when he had the dazed 
boy up on the dock, he went through his 
pockets ^d triumphantly brought forth the 
wallet of money that had been described to 
him. A crowd had gathered aroimd them, 
and when Uncle Jeremiah pressed his way 
in, he found that the officer had taken his 
captive out and was hurrying away with him. 
As the crowd loosened up in dispersing the 
old man caught sight of the Captain disap- 
pearing around a comer. He hastened after 
him, and was coming near in a breath-taking 
chase, when he saw that the little girl who 
had notified him of his loss was also running 
in the same direction. Her swifter feet 
brought her there first. He saw her plant 
herself in front of the' officer, baring his 
progress. 

saw the thief steal the pocketbook,’’ she 
insisted. showed him to you and this is 
not the fellow.’^ 

‘^But I found the pocketbook on him,” re- 
plied the officer convincingly, ‘‘and he 
jumped overboard to get away from me. Isn’t 
this your money?” he asked, handing the wal- 
let to Uncle Jeremiah. 

“This is my money,” he replied as he rec- 
ognized Pickup, “but I believe the little girl. 
I don’t believe this boy is the thief.” 


96 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Pickup then described to them how Val 
Hone had come running by, how he had vic- 
iously struck Nugget because of some old en- 
mity between them, and how he had quickly 
guessed that the man was running from some 
deviltry ,and so decided to keep him in sight 
till he could call an officer. That the thief 
had put the money into the boy’s pocket and 
then pushed him over appeared very plau- 
sible. 

Mulford asked Uncle Jeremiah to go and 
explain to Merrilee so he could take the boy 
back to his friend, and drive them over to the 
Sanitarium as a final vindication of the boy’s 
story. 

Pickup looked around for the little girl 
that he might thank her for coming to his 
rescue, but she was gone. 

Uncle Jeremiah went back to the place 
where Merrilee was waiting for him and de- 
scribed the lentertaining events. It was 
agreed that they were getting their money’s 
worth at the Exposition, and all would be 
happy except for the wild ranchgirl, who they 
well knew must sooner or later come to grief 
and be glad of their protection and interest- 
ed relationship. They met Molly, as agreed, 
and were by nightfall seated comfortably at 
a table in the Green Tree Restaurant discuss- 
ing the interests of the day. Molly brought 

97 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


attention to her increasing idiosyncrasy by 
announcing that she had experienced a very 
busy day investigating broadbrimined hat 
folks. Some had pleated shirts but were de- 
void of low wool socks and vice versa. None 
had all three of the signs. Uncle Jeremiah 
was somewhat troubled to be sure whether it 
was a Scotch joke or an old maid mania. 

In hunting for something in one of his 
pockets, he drew out a rather weather 
stained scrap of paper. It attracted his cu- 
riosity as something unusual. Straightening 
out the creases on the table, he read: 

‘^Dear Sir — ^I’m glad I told you about your 
pocketbook for you look just zackly like a 
picture at home which my father calls Uncle 
Jeremiah.’’ 


98 


VII. 

SEEING THE SIGHTS WITH MOLLY. 


The police could get no clew to the missing 
Paquita. The Exposition guards had ques- 
tioned numerous lone girls of the given de- 
scription, hut none of them had any trouble 
in pointing out their respective protectors. 

The next morning an early message was 
left for Uncle Jeremiah. He was asked to 
call as soon as convenient at the Palace of 
Pine Arts in the section controlled by Eig 
Veda. There he would receive important 
news. Such was their interest that the three 
set out to arrive there as soon as the gates 
were open. Molly was but little concerned, 
and, as usual, she devoted herself to the Zone. 

They found Eig Veda awaiting them with 
the complacent air of a victor who was accus- 
tomed to succeed where all others failed. , 
put out a drag net of telephone inquiries 
last night and this morning,” he explained, 
‘^covering all the registered hotels and board- 
ing houses in walking distance of the Fair 
grounds. I struck the right one this morning 
after breakfast. A girl named Fanny, which 
you know is the English for Paquita, rented 
a room there for a week and paid for it. The 


99 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


description fits our girl. Slie had left only a 
few minutes before I called up. I went over 
at once and found this on ber dresser. She 
had taken her satchel with her. 

‘Dear Grandmother: 

“ ‘I meant to write you that I got here and 
I can take care of myseK in a city just as well 
as on the ranch. I don’t want no boss. Don’t 
let no letter from the campfire bunch scare 
you about me. I think I have saw' our rela- 
tions but I don’t need them. The campfire 
girls have my drygoods. I have had so much 
action today that I’m all tuckered out. I’ll 
finish tomorrow night.’ ” 

“That’s the girl all right,” said Uncle 
Jeremiah. “In the language of the ranch, we 
must rope her in when she returns to her 
room tonight, without fail.” 

“Leave it to me,” said Rig Veda. “I’m 
her captor. I’ll make the catch. We will 
plan an evening call upon the elusive lady 
and give her the surprise of her life.” 

A complete plan being agreed upon. Uncle 
Jeremiah went to take a look through the 
agricultural building, while Rig Veda was 
delighted to show Merrilee through the 
beauty-bedecked aisles of the art building. 

^ Meanwhile, Molly, still holding to her con- 
yiction that the gypsy fortuneteller’s predic- 
100 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


tion was to come true somewhere in the Zone, 
pursued her fate wherever she could find a 
sign. Her experience in finding all the signs 
in Ab Bean did not count. He had played a 
mean trick to win her confidence. ^‘Plague 
take it!’^ she would make him sorry for such 
a joke on such a serious subject. But Fate 
would not desert her. It could not do so or 
there would be no such thing as Fate. Her 
faith was indeed of ,a healing quality. It had 
quantity equal to the task of removing moun- 
tains, even when there continued to be re- 
vealed nothing beyond but the desert. 

In the course of her exploration, she stood 
admiringly before two towering elephant 
heads erected over one of the amusement 
buildings. Her imagination arose in fancy 
flights, wondering what mighty hunter had 
the nerve to shoot such big creatures and 
bring their heads to the Exposition. She 
looked into her purse and counted her money 
contemplatively. 

^Ht’s mighty costly to go into very many 
of these shows, she said to a woman near 
her, who stood looking up wonderingly at the 
spectacular front, with her three or four chil- 
dren grouped around in silent awe. 

‘‘Sure it must be,” replied the woman. “I 
haven’t even enough money to try one of 
them. We look on and guess at sights inside. 


101 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


You don’t have to pay anything extra for 
that. It’s as cheap and easy and satisfying 
as guessing at the thoughts inside of people’s 
heads. We might as well stay at home and 



guess at what is inside the Exposition.” 

“Can’t we just try one?” asked a small boy 
at her side. “Try it just to see how good we 
guess.” 

The woman shook her head. 


102 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


‘‘It would cost more tlian a whole day’s 
work.” 

The little boy began to cry. 

“Here, little boy, don’t cry,” said a half- 
grown girl who had come up and listened to 
the conversation. “I’ve got the money to 
take us all in and it won’t cost me any work.” 

The boy looked up with shining eyes. 

“La, Miss,” expostulated the woman, “I 
don’t allow my children to impose on any- 
body. I don’t allow my children” — 

“Shoo! there, all of you. We’re going to 
see the show,” impetuously exclaimed the 
girl, spreading out her arms and shoving 
them toward ,the entrance under one of the 
elephant heads. “We’re going to see if 
guesses are as good as seeing.” 

She took two of the joyous children by the 
hand and tripped over to the box office. As 
the group passed in, Molly held back with the 
money in her hand to buy her own ticket. 

“You’re counted and paid for,” said the 
girl, shoving her on through the door. 

T^en the gleeful crowd emerged, the small 
boy had very decided opinions. 

“Guessing ^ain’t nothing like seeing,” he 
declared with the dogmatic emphasis of an 
ancient philosopher. “I want to try it some 
more.” 

“All right, sonny,” said a new philan- 


103 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


thropist standing forth. ‘‘I’ve got enough 
money for us to see what that long stretched- 
out tin soldier is standing up there for, and 
I ain’t afraid of going broke as long as Uncle 
Jeremiah can write a check. Come on.” 

Molly led the way. She bought the tickets 
and the unexpected organization of sight- 
seers disappeared from view into the won- 
ders of Toyland. When they returned, each 
child had a souvenir of the excursion and the 
family said good-bye to their benefactors 
with many expressions of good will and re- 
grets. 

The two new-made friends walked on along 
the road, absorbed in the crazy freaks called 
amusements to be seen on each side. 

“I’m foolish enough already,” declared 
Molly, “and I’ve got no time for such night- 
mares. Listen at them bawling idiots excit- 
ing everybody but us to see their show. They 
have to shut their mouths before their best 
friends can recognize them.” 

The blare of a trumpet sounded and a long 
arm began to rise, lifting higher and higher 
a room the size of a street car that was full of 
people. It went up and up high over all the 
buildings and swung around back down again 
to the ground. 

“People that enjoy being scared into the 
middle of next week always get perpetration 

104 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


of the heart,” she averred solemnly, ^‘and 
then they have an excuse to quit some bad 
habit. That’s because every bad habit always 
comes in on an excuse and it’s got to go out on 
one, so the person can feel comfortable and 
natural.” 

They came around before the colossal 
statue of Buddha sitting over the entrance of 
a street representing the amusement floats of 
Japan. 

Molly was critical. 

What’s the use of spending money on 
making a sleepy-looking man as big as Uncle 
Jeremiah’s barn,” she questioned, ‘^onless it 
represents how a man feels when he’s answer- 
ing every question that an obliging woman 
asks about the secrets of the universe.” 

Her philosophy was interrupted by a barker 
near by roaring out, This way to see the 
startling death of a man falling from the 
clouds into the bay. Only ten cents to see the 
snuffing out of a human life. A flfty million 
dollar picture show going on right now for ten 
cents.” 

<<For goodness sake!” exclaimed Molly 
covering her ears, ‘^let us do the going on 
right now. What’ud I risk the perils of the 
plains and Rockies for to spend time seeing a 
movie show that I can see any time at home. 
Howsomever, I agree that it’s the only rea- 


105 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


sonable human thing along this whole stretch 
of bowlyvard, but the fellow as would put up 
money to make such a common thing in this 
uncommon place to make money with, actually 
don’t know enough to come in out of the rain. 
I guess he is a brother to the penny-wise in- 
stitooshun that made seats for the weary 
bones that wants to listen out in the open air 
to the soul-soothing music of the Exposition 
band. The seats are locked and you have to 
coax them open with a nickle. They get our 
money coming and going and sitting down, so 
as to get us to appreciate the privilege of get- 
ting our money’s worth in our glorious fifty 
million dollar Imposition. Lots of the swellest 
big men haven’t got as much common horse 
sense as Abner Bean.” 

Her only listener appeared to be much in- 
structed and well entertained by the voluble 
harangue on the tricks of the trade in shows. 
Molly was a greater wonder to the young 
sightseer than the entire mile of extravagant 
jokes on supposed human humor. The long 
crooked stickleback of gaudy shapes was built 
up like a caterpillar feeding on the gorgeous 
rose blooming for the nations of the earth. 

^‘That’s why the railroads have to raise 
heaven and earth,” she continued ‘‘to get the 
people to ride across the Rockies, even when 
nobody has any place else to go because of 


106 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


furrin wars and their underground torpid 
boats. The picture shows don’t show any pic- 
tures of this fair and everybody knows that 
anything on earth worth picturing is always 
pictured. Somebody is canning the scenes and 
putting them in cold storage for higher 
prices.” 

The shrill scream of some fife-like instru- 
ments mingled with sounds like the thumping 
of old beer kegs turned them aside 1ip a shiver- 
ing bunch of jungle-looking creatures, who 
seemed to feel that they must go through the 
motions, which were supposed to interest the 
phantom crowds upon the almost empty 
street. 

^^Only fifty cents today to see the greatest 
display of Squee Gee Islanders on earth. 
Walk right in and behold them at their canni- 
bal feasts.” 

^SSay,” said Molly, ‘M’d heaps rather read 
about that. Let’s get out of this lunatic 
asylum. Everything here is money. I can 
get fooled for less than fifty cents. The best 
things cost the least. I want to see something 
now that don’t cost nothing.” 

That’s so,” assented the little girl. ‘‘We 
ought to see something big that don’t cost 
nothing.” 

“How big?” 

“About as big as the ocean.” 


107 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


‘‘There it is/’ was the reply, as she point- 
ed out a thin streak of blue between build- 
ings. “It’s just about as far away as across 
,a corral.” 

“No,” replied Molly, with an air of ve^ 
superior education. “That is just a poor lit- 
tle ornery bay. We have to take a long street 
car ride to get to the ocean.” 

“Then let’s go and see it if we don’t have 
to pay anything for the looks,” said the girl. 
“If I keep up my extravagance I’ll have to 
hunt up my folks pretty soon or go to work, 
and I don’t know any work but taking care 
of horses.” 

“What’s your name?” 

“Fanny.” 

“Well, mine’s Molly, so we will go to see 
the big free show.” 

They left the Fair grounds on a venture of 
discovery as dimly defined as Balboa’s search 
for the vast western ocean four hundred 
years before. To be sure they likewise in- 
quired of the natives for the roadway that 
was to take them to the sea and were lured 
on and on by promises of the carline being 
just ahead. They climbed height after height 
and surmounted one skyline after another in 
the hope of seeing over seaward, but every 
top of the earth only showed another higher. 

“Look’s to me like everything you get, 
108 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


even the free things, costs work or money,’’ 
exclaimed Fanny, as they rested on a bench 
in the side of a hilltop which someone told 
them Was a park. ‘‘These city goat herders 
don’t know how to explain anything to com- 
mon horse sense. Let’s stop an automobile 
and see if such people know any more. There 
comes one now that looks empty. I’ll try it 
first on that.” 

She ran out into the road and began wav- 
ing her hands for a slow down, like a brake- 
man for a freight train. 

“We want to see the Pacific Ocean,” she 
called out as the car stopped within a few, 
feet of her, “but we can’t seem to find it. 
Where is it?” 

“That’s where I’m going now,” said the 
chauffeur, leaning forward to get a better 
look at the arbitrary obstruction. “Get in if 
you want a ride.” 

Molly and the girl obeyed with sudden 
alacrity. 

The boy laughed piS he turned on the force. 

“One good turn deserves another. You 
kept me from a short journey to the lockup 
yesterday and I’ll save you from a long tramp 
to the ocean today. I’m taking this machine 
out to a doctor from the sanitarium, who had 
to stay all night with a family near the Cliff 
House.” 


109 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


The girl recognized the boy’s return of 
good favors with a smile of satisfaction for 
her successful instinct. 

‘‘Let’s introduce ourselves,” he continued, 
as they turned into the beautiful gardens of 
Golden Gate Park. “As good a name for me 
as any just now is Pickup. What’s yours?” 

“As good a name as any for me, just now,” 
responded the girl, “is Fanny.” 

“The name that is none too good for me,” 
responded the little Scotch woman, “is Molly. 
The other part may be anything with a Mac 
to it, but I’m never certain how long I’m go- 
ing to keep that, not if real gypsy fortune- 
tellers ever know anything.” 

The car was delivered. Then the master 
of sightseeing events conducted his compan- 
ions upon and down and aroimd the shore 
bluffs where the Golden Gate of the Pacific 
leads into the marvelous San Francisco Bay. 

Tired and hungry, they sought a place 
where they might rest and refresh them- 
selves. Over where the car line came down 
to the shore they remembered that they had 
seen a restaurant. On the way, Molly was 
startled to see a broad-brimmed hat, of the 
size pictured by fate, slouching along some 
distance ahead of them through the varying 
crowds. To her sorrow it turned up a side 
street, but a block further on she turned and 


110 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


saw it coming. Fate would not allow it to 
disappear if it belonged to her. 

At the restaurant they were ushered in 
where they could get glimpses of the great 
sea, not less romantic to them than the sight 
which thrilled Balboa centuries before. This 



picture, with the music and the hunger sug- 
gestions around her, caused her to forget for 
a moment that the hand of Fate was then at 
the door laboring for her. But the memory 


111 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


returned and she saw the broadbrim leaning 
disconsolately against the window sill on the 
outside near the door, as if he had been look- 
ing through to see what the occult pressure 
on him meant. The pressure on her was 
equally strong. She must see if there was 
any other sign. The man’s coat was thrown 
back on his shoulders and evidently the front 
view would give her some peace of mind. 
She left the table hurriedly and went to the 
door. The broadbrim turned a soulful look 
on her and she fled back to her place at the 
table. Her persistent admirer accepted as 
an invitation anything less th,an a fight. 
Abner followed and took his seat beside her. 

‘‘Well, what can’t be cured must be en- 
dured,” she quoted, as he called the waiter 
and ordered a supply for himself. But Molly 
was nothing if she was. not polite. She be- 
lieved in etiquette. Therefore, he was prop- 
erly introduced. Then he proceeded to smash 
the monotony and make things lively with a 
choice variety of opinions about “San 
Frisky,” “plague take it,” and its inferior 
accommodations compared with those at the 
farm. 

The chaperon presently discovered with 
considerable uneasiness that the glinting 
views of the sea were becoming hazy and the 
golden sheen was vanishing: in the setting 


112 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


sun. The waiters were exasperatingly slow. 
But all things at last come to pass. At the 
time when the convivial group finished their 
meal and arrived outside, it was dark, except 
for the lights up the highway and down the 
beach. Up the shore banks they heard music 
mingling with the wash of the waves and the 
boom of the surges in the hollow wall of 
rock. Off from the beach in the midst of this 
star-spangled scene, was a giddy whirl of 
lights proclaiming something to see, and Ab 
irresistibly determined to see it all, carried 
the chaperon away to experience the magic 
undulations of a merry-go-round, which was 
striving for patronage just beyond the end of 
the car lines. The youthful couple, though 
well entertained with each other, felt obliged 
to go along. 

But Molly’s sense of responsibility at last 
asserted itself over all the demands of youth- 
ful interest in novelties, and they decided to 
return home. Then the young lady raised an 
objection. She said she couldn’t find her 
rooming house at night and she couldn’t tell 
anybody else how to do it. The perplexity 
was ended by finding her a room at the near- 
est hotel and then Pickup assisted Molly to 
escape the plague of the broadbrim, and suc- 
ceeded in forwarding her safely to the Green 
Tree Hotel. 


113 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Molly hastened to find her folks to explain 
her late return, but they were nowhere to be 
found and no one knew anything about them. 
She threw herself across the bed, deposited 
her handbag on the pillow and was soon 
sound asleep. 

Not long after midnight Merrilee and her 
grandfather came into the room, after a dis- 
appointing wait to capture a willful girl that 
never arrived. They still considered the cap- 
ture very sure, however, because they had 
arranged with the landlady to telephone 
them the moment the girl set foot in her 
door. 

Uncle Jeremiah contemplated the form of 
Molly on the bed with some curiosity con- 
cerning her day^s experiences. Seeing the 
handbag open on the pillow he took it up in- 
quiringly and looked inside. His awkward 
handling pushed a bundle of crumpled writ- 
ing paper out on the fioor. Merrilee picked 
it up. She straightened out the folds and 
read: 

^‘You’re all right, Molly. WeVe had a fine 
day of it. ’Specially with Pickup and Ab. I 
heard you say Uncle Jeremiah once. I won- 
der if everybody has an Uncle Jeremiah"? 
But you look just like the funny little old 
Molly that my grandmother said lived with 
her brother when she went to see him. Come 


114 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


out and visit me on the ranch and I’ll teach 
you to break mustangs, then maybe you can 
handle Ab.” 


115 


VIII. 

PAQUITA WINS A HORSE RACE. 

Eig Veda appeared at the appointed hour 
to take Merrilee to see the military grounds 
adjoining the Exposition, next to the stock 
section, and known as the Presidio. This 
gentleman with the dark-eyed East Indian 
looks was particularly attentive, though his 
role as hero had not yet won any honors. 
Nevertheless, he did not seem greatly de- 
pressed on that account and his eloquent ar- 
dor was in no way abated. 

They were walking leisurely along the 
highway overlooking the live-stock grounds 
of the Exposition when they saw a bunch of 
horses coming out from the prize stables for 
exercise on the wide esplanade of the Pre- 
sidio. Merrilee saw Prank Mulford standing 
by the side of his highly rated race horse. She 
loved those animals and suggested that they 
go where they could see the horses put 
through the movements intended to bring out 
their best points. But Eig Veda was becom- 
ing more interested in something else. He 
saw something. He had the attitude of an 
Indian on a trail. He was looking at some- 
thing that claimed his attention more than 
his rival’s horse. 


.16 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


'‘IVe been watching that girl you can see 
ovp there through the trees. Do you see her 
going along the elevated walk across the low 
grounds down there?’’ 



not see any distinguishing features. 

‘‘I have a growing conviction that it is the 
ranch girl,” he said quite decisively. ^^She is 
evidently not a native and she is alone. You 
remain here for a few minutes and I will run 
up across the way where I can get a nearer 
side view. If I become more convinced, I’ll 


117 



UNCLE JEREMIA^ 


motion yon and go on. If I don’t get back 
with her soon, you take the car back to the 
hotel and I’ll let yon know by ’phone as soon 
as I make the capture. I’m bound to make 
a record as a hero yet. It takes a high-class 
hero to get that wild ranchero. There, she 
has disappeared now.” 

Eig Veda hastened away on his task. Mer- 
rilee waited till her patience became exhaust- 
ed and then she walked over to a point where 
she could watch the horses. Meanwhile the 
pursuer had caught sight of the gray-frocked 
figure passing along the stone houses over 
beyond the parade grounds. He cut across 
the way and hurried on toward her. The girl, 
as if watchful for pursuit, saw him hurrying 
her way and quickened her pace. When she 
saw him turn toward her in ,a new direction 
which she had taken she appeared to become 
panic-stricken and began to run. He also 
started to rim in order to keep her in sight. 
When she saw this convincing demonstration 
of being the object of a pursuer, she turned 
out of his sight between the nearest build- 
ings. On, her way she saw a side door open 
and no one in sight. Quickly turning into 
this promising refuge, she closed the door 
and found herself among tables piled high 
with many varieties of uniforms and miscel- 
laneous clothing. She looked out of a win- 


118 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


dow and saw her pursuer talking to an offi- 
cer. She saw the officer call a soldier to him 
and give him some kind of orders, which he 
carried promptly away. She was quite sure 
that she understood it. She was to be ar- 
rested by the soldiers, that was evident. 
Soldiers were persons who shot people. She 
had to think very rapidly. Now she was 
sorry she had deserted the campfire girls. 
They were doubtless in their camp tents hav- 
ing a good time while she was scared and 
miserable. But something must be done to 
escape the fate now hanging over her, even 
if not at that moment stealthily approaching 
dangerously near. Her attention in the 
midst of this anxiety was caught by a suit of 
clothes that looked like what she had seen 
the stable boys wearing down at the horse 
show in the Fair grounds. The suggestion 
was irresistible. She had stolen boy’s clothes 
and ridden around the ranch many a time un- 
til overhauled by her irate grandfather or 
roped in by some of the horse herders. It was 
then great sport which aroused more applause 
than censure. It would save her now. They 
could not know her in a stable boy’s suit. 

In a few minutes she was completely trans- 
formed. A tight cap fitted down closely over 
her short hair, which she bundled up closely 


119 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


on top of her head and secured firmly under 
the fluffy folds of the well-adapted head cov- 
ering. Opening the door cautiously she 
peered out and found that no one was in sight 
on that side. Then she walked out boldly on 
past Eig Veda where he was directing the 
search which was being made in every pos- 
sible hiding place, except the right one. 

It was somewhat disconcerting when she 
suddenly came upon Merrilee seated upon a 
cornerstone by a low spreading willow tree 
watching the horse trainers. But with avert- 
ed head and quickened steps she passed on to 
the horsemen. 

The horses and those interested in them 
had divided off into two groups under a heat- 
ed argument concerning the respective racing 
merits and styles of training. Arguments 
that can never be decided by reason usually 
end in bets or blows. These contraries did 
not go beyond bets. But bets require vindi- 
cation and the proof was at hand. Their sys- 
tem of assertions must not be allowed to 
wither away but must ripen into compensat- 
ing results. 

Paquita had come up to the group that 
made the most motions and indulged in the 
loudest talk. She was somewhat shocked to 
find that it was led by the man whom she had 
seen appropriating Uncle Jeremiah’s wallet 


120 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


of money while she was studying the famil- 
iar looks of the old man safely secreted be- 
hind a toy house made of oranges in the Cali- 
fornia building. The chance was now com- 
ing for her to foil him again. She was stand- 
ing directly at Val Hone’s back. The group 
of men were squatted together in whispered 
consultation as two others busied themselves 
with, taking bets. Eyidently this stable boy 
was believed to be one of the reliable mem- 
bers of the group, for the man taking record 
of the bets seemed to make little effort at 
keeping the intruder from hearing as he 
whispered to Val Hone that Mulford’s boy 
would take the money. 

Paquita had been enough among horsemen 
to be thoroughly familiar with their slang as 
well as with all the methods ever practiced in 
the rivalry over horses. She soon clearly un- 
derstood that the jockey on the other side 
was ready to play any way for the money. 
The argument brought on more bets and then 
the leader scribbled something on a bit of pa- 
per, and holding it back over his shoulder, 
said, ‘^Slip this over to Nat.” 

Paquita took it and went over to the jockey 
in the other group. On the way she managed 
to rqad, ^‘Go ahead. It’s now worth 500 to 
you.” Instead of giving him the note, she 
whispered the words in his ear. Then she 
121 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


watched for an opportunity to speak to Mul- 
ford. 

^^Are you betting?” she whispered over 
his shoulder as he sat on a block of stone and 
listened to the talk. 

^‘No,” he replied, ‘‘but my friends are.” 

“Then don’t,” she whispered. “The bunch 
over there is throwing you.” 

She slipped the note into his hand. 

“This was for your jockey,” she added, 
“but I kept it.” 

He looked up at the youthful stable boy 
and did not doubt what was taking place. 

“Do you Want to beat them?” she asked. 

“Of course,” was his short reply. 

“Then just as your jockey is going to 
mount,” she whispered, “you change your 
mind and lift me. I’ll win the race.” 

“All right, my boy,” he answered heartily. 
“You be ready, and if you will, it’s a hundred 
or more for you.” 

There was no permission for racing on this 
broad esplanade of the Presidio, but no sol- 
dier was in sight and the hot contestants de- 
cided to risk it. 

By this time Eig Veda had given up his 
vision of a heroic capture. The girl seemed 
to have gone straight up in the air, for she 
had certainly left the grounds by no ordinary 
methods. He came disconsolately back where 


122 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Merrilee was watching the horses and re- 
ported the mysterious disappearance. 

‘‘This thing of becoming a hero is the most 
uncertain job I ever undertook/’ he asserted, 
“but I’m going to accomplish it if I have to 
frame up a case to prove it.” 

Merrilee laughed at his discomfiture and 
suggested that they go over and see what was 
the excitement about the horses. It looked 
as if a horserace was being hatched up. 

As they walked on over, they saw one 
jockey lifted to his horse while the other 
waited expectantly for a like service. It did 
not come to him. Two men picked up a 
sm^aller boy standing by, lifted him to the 
horse and adjusted the stirrups to his feet. 
The horses were very steady but at the word 
both were away like the flash of a whip. In 
a moment they were out of sight. They had 
a mile to go, where they would make a wide 
turn and come back down the same road. As 
the suspense grew deeper the bets rose 
higher. Then there was a wild shout from the 
Val Hone crowd. Their horse came into sight 
two or three lengths .ahead. But at once 
their jubilation began to die down. In a mo- 
ment more there was dead silence. From 
neck and neck Mulford’s horse crawled up 
imtil it crossed the line a double length before 
its adversary. 


123 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Lost in the excitement to all her surround- 
ings, Merrilee ran forward as the boy was 
dragged from his horse, caught him in her 
arms and gave him a very complimentary 
kiss. 



^‘How did you get here?” Mulford asked 
Merrilee in astonishment as she came into the 
scene, forgetting for the moment all about his 
little friend, the new jockey. Explanations 
were made, but were soon cut short, as 
large crowd was gathering, bets were bein 
settled and some soldiers were coming. Mer- 
rilee went back to Rig Veda, who was stand- 
ing outside the crowd, a curious spectator of 
the scene, and asked to return to the hotel. 


124 


Oq P 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


She didn’t care for any more excitement that 
day. 

In the midst of the confusion, Val Hone 
saw the boy that had made the race go against 
him quietly getting away from the crowd. 
He stepped around in front of the little jock- 
ey. His evil eye took one piercing look. 

‘‘Lew Ha vr on’s son ^s sure as God made 
little apples,” he said, with a sudden motion 
snatching the cap ofE her head and letting the 
thick black hair fall down around her neck. 
“You tried to help that plug-ugly over there 
get me the other day, didn’t you, but he 
didn’t. You’ve done it again and he did. It’s 
my time next.” 

She caught the cap out of his hand and .ad- 
justed it on her head without deigning to 
reply. 

“You helped him to it this time,” he re- 
peated with a grunt and a shrug of his shoul- 
ders. “The third time’s my time.” 

She turned quickly from him, was lost 
again for a few minutes in the crowd, and 
then went out over the steep bank at the 
side of the road and disappeared from view. 

The triumphant horsemen looked around 
for their little hero, but to their amazement 
he was gone and the purse of two hundred 
dollars made up for him was left with Cap- 
tain Mulford to deliver. 


125 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


That night the captain called at the Green 
Tree Hotel to take Merrilee to a theatrical 
performance, when the mysterious disap- 
pearance of Paquita alternated in conversation 
with the equally mysterious disappearance of 
the jockey. 

Some light was thrown on the subject 
when Mulford drew out his gloves as they 
were about to leave the hotel parlor for the 
show. A scrap of paper came out with them, 
from which he read: 

‘^Mr. Mulford: Val Hone is the man I got 
you after as took Uncle Jeremiah’s pocket- 
book. I’m glad I found out his tricks in time 
to ride your horse to victory. 

S. You know Merrilee. Tell her I’m 
getting tired of having no boss. I’m afraid of 
Val Hone. I’ve a good notion to come into 
camp and surrender.” 


IX 

SOME STRENUOUS EXPERIENCES. 

Paquita was rapidly coining into the view 
that independence in a city required a larger 
amount of nerve force than independence on 
a ranch. The existence was too complicated 
for comfort. The problem of people was too 
large. She began to realize that the indi- 
vidual requires a substantial social system. 

She had never returned to the room for 
which she had paid a week’s rent, because she 
couldn’t find the place. There had been con- 
siderably more freedom of choice since she 
had escaped in the stable boy’s clothing, but 
it was shivery to be so thoroughly neglected 
and ignored. She was startled at how the 
loss of girl’s skirts had been the utter loss of 
all attention and kindness except what she 
exerted herself to get. There had been the 
clear loss of a badge of royalty. For the first 
time in her life she realized that it actually 
meant something worth while to be a woman. 

She was studying now how to retrieve her 
former position among friends without ab- 
ject surrender, and she was not seeing many 
sights as she wandered quite gloomy around 
toward the harbor devoted to yachts and by 
the pier for launches and excursion boats. It 

127 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


was quite early in the morning and the day 
offered nothing but so many empty hours in 
the solitary confinement of being neither 
woman nor man. . Companionship was clear- 
ly much more than restraints and conven- 
tions. But the eyes of youth are alert for 
passing interests even as it struggles with its 
blooming problems. She caught sight of Val 
Hone moving intently forward. He was evi- 
dently following some one. She felt a keen 
delight in thwarting his designs, therefore 
she as cautiously followed the follower. The 
familiar form of the old man in the distance 
from whom he had stolen the pocketbook dis- 
closed the object of Val Hone’s maneuvers. 
It fiashed over her that now was the time to 
give thq man his just deserts. She would 
run to Captain Mulford and have him put the 
evil-minded enemy in prison. To think was 
to act, and she ran to find a guard who could 
get Mulford there at once. As she made a 
short cut through the Court of Abundance, 
another familiar figure came into view. It 
was Pickup. She ran impetuously up to him 
and told him that Uncle Jeremiah was in 
some new peril from Val Hone. She was on 
her way to notify Captain Mulford and have 
the villain arrested. But Pickup informed 
her that Captain Mulford and Merrilee had 
gone to visit some college friends at Palo 


128 


tJNCIiE JEREMIAH 


Alto, in the Stanford University. What was 
to be done must be done quickly, and 
they could think of nothing but to run back 
and help protect the old man. Pickup did 
not recognize this boy so curiously interested 
in Uncle Jeremiah, but there was no time for 
introductions. 

When they arrived at the pier they saw 
th^t Uncle Jeremiah had taken a seat in front 
of one of the small launches used as quick ex- 
cursion boats, and Val Hone was talking with 
the motorman. An agreement was evidently 
reached, for the motorman walked away and 
Val Hone went forward, climbed into the 
boat and took his seat at the machine. The 
boat began to move away with its solitary 
passenger when the two youthful protectors 
sprang aboard and concealed themselves be- 
hind the little center cabin. The problem 
now was, what could they do? As the boat 
sped away with unusual speed, they began 
counseling together what must be done. 

The boat headed straight across to Fort 
Baker, where the passenger evidently desired 
to go, and then suddenly swerved off to go 
around the ridge at Lime Point. Apparently 
Uncle Jeremiah did not notice this change 
till the turn had been almost accomplished. 
Then he began to question and expostulate. 
The motorman made no reply but kept on his 


129 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


course. Uncle Jeremiah was becoming exas- 
perated. He went over and put his hands 
on the man’s shoulder. 

‘‘What do you mean?” he inquired. “I 
paid you a dollar to take me. over to Fort 
Baker.” 

He then saw that a stranger was at the 
motor. 

“A dollar is not enough,” replied Val 
Hone insolently. “It will take the five hun- 
dred you have in your inside pocket to get 
you ashore. If I have to take my pay and 
throw you overboard, you may never reach 
there. Which do you choose?” 

Val Hone rose ready to attack the old man, 
if he resisted the demand. The terrifying 
moment for action had come. Quick intui- 
tions seem sometimes to be miracles. Pa- 
quita saw a rope coiled under a bench near 
them. She caught hold of the end and knot- 
ted it into a loop. In a moment she had a 
running noose that provided a fairly work- 
able lasso. She had practiced throwing many 
such a coil. By moving cautiously .around to 
the left of the cabin, she would be able to ar- 
rive unseen within a few feet behind Val 
Hone’s back. But Uncle Jeremiah might see 
her and in his agitation defeat her purpose. 
She must risk it. 

There had been a minute’s silence while 


130 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Uncle Jeremiah was realizing the situation 
and gathering his ideas. 

^‘You have evidently made very efficient 
preparation for this sort of thing/’ he was 
saying as the frail-looking boy with a coiled 
rope came into view. He did not betray the 



unexpected interruption to his thought by 
any movement or expression that Val Hone 
co^d see, but the shock of surprise caused 
him to pause a moment in his talk. Then he 
very complacently continued: ^‘If thorough 
provision for the object in view is ,a rational 
process, then you should be classed with the 

131 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


scientists. You have the true culture of a 
military despotism, and’’ — 

The coil of rope settled suddenly over the 
man’s shoulders. The two pairs of hands 
jerked it tight and dragged him backward 
out of the motor box. He yelled and strug- 
gled, but his arms at the elbows were com- 
pressed into his sides till he could hardly 
breathe. 

Uncle J eremiah quickly took the end of the 
rope and knotted it fast so that the would-be 
highwayman was securely bound, and igno- 
miniously laid out upon deck. 

What’s your name, my little man?” said 
Uncle Jeremiah. want to thank you and 
reward you.” 

suppose Johnny is good enough a name 
for a boy,” she replied. ‘H’ll come when you 
say that.” 

‘‘Well, Johnny, just as a bonus,” he said, 
overflowing with gratitude, “here is fifty for 
you and fifty for Pickup, with the under- 
standing that whenever you need more you 
sh,all have it.” 

“I’ve already got fifty dollars,” replied 
Johnny. “Don’t burden me with being a 
bank.” 

“So I have already got fifty dollars, also,” 
replied Pickup. “That is, I have two checks 
for twenty-five each. But as I am about out 


132 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


of change, I’ll let you cash one of them. 
That’s all I want.” 

‘‘All right,” replied Uncle Jeremiah, “if 
you won’t let me do you any good in return 
now. I’ll do it some time.” 

He took the check from the hoy and 
glanced at it. A look of astonishment began 
to creep oyer his face. He got out his glasses 
to be sure he saw right. 

“Boy,” he asked with considerable emo- 
tion, “where did you get this?” 

“The secretary of the Pioneer Camp of 
Boy Scouts gave it to me.” 

Uncle Jeremiah seized him by the arm and 
fairly hugged him. 

“"^y, my boy,” he exclaimed, “I gave 
these checks to that man, and you’re the boy 
he sent to the Exposition. Verily, bread 
cast upon the waters shall return after many 
days.” 

Pickup understood. 

“So, you see,” he said proudly, “I’m just 
trying to pay you back. Every debt is paid 
back somehow.” 

“I believe you,” said the old man. “Now, 
let’s go across to the fort and send some one 
here to pay back the debt this fellow has made 
against society.” 

He took a sheet of paper from his pocket 
and wrote upon it in large letters, “This is a 


133 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


highwayman. Soldiers will he here in a few 
minutes to take charge of him.” 

This sheet he tacked conspicuously on the 
post to which the prisoner’s feet were tied, 
as a warning to any sympathetic visitors that 
might appear. 

The boat being headed for the shore when 
the coil of rope settled down upon the crook 
in Val Hone’s elbows, it plowed ahead and 
ran its nose deep into the soft, sandy beach. 
The three jumped out, glad to escape from 
the sea pirate, and headed their way once 
more to civilization. 

It was a longer journey over the ridge to 
the fort than they had expected, but in due 
time they arrived there and a few minutes 
later a detail of soldiers was on its way to 
get the captive. It was too tiresome a trij) 
to be retraveled by Uncle Jeremiah, but the 
two boys were eager to see the prisoner taken 
in by the soldiers. Accordingly, they 
marched back with the four men. 

When they came up to the launch, they 
saw it was empty. Some one had been there 
and released the prisoner. The rope lay on 
the floor cut through every strand. A shawl 
pin was run through the sheet of paper con- 
taining the highwayman notice, like a sword 
through a heart, and the pin was stuck fast 
in the door of the cabin. 


134 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


The soldiers examined the pin carefully. 

‘‘It belongs to a half-breed Indian woman 
who sells bead-stuff around here/’ one as- 
serted. “I make the guess that it belongs to 
Ogallalla Sue, and that this fellow has her to 
help him in such jobs as this. She lives 
somewhere up this ridge. Let’s take a look.” 

They marched up the ridge where they 
could have the clearest view and went then 
on toward the head of the cove. There they 
soon came into view of a hut with a woman 
standing in the front door. It was Ogallalla 
Sue, who had become quite well known re- 
cently to the soldiers. When they reached 
her, she could hardly talk from being out of 
breath. They searched the cabin and ques- 
tioned her severely, but could get nothing 
substantial to confirm their convictions that 
she was keeping a genuine robbers’ den. 
With an emphatic warning for her to keep 
the peace, they returned to the launch, and 
one of the soldiers drove it around to the fort, 
where Uncle Jeremiah was taken aboard 
and the visitors returned to their starting 
place. 

Uncle Jeremiah stepped out on the pier 
and then heartily thanked the soldiers for 
their trouble. He turned to his younjg 
friends, but only Pickup was there. 


135 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


‘‘Where is Johnny?” asked the old man. 
“I don’t want to lose him.” 

“But he’s lost, all right,” replied Pickup. 
“I asked him where his home was, so we 
could see him again, and he just streaked it 
away without answering.” 

“I am extremely fortimate in friends,” he 
said, “and I w.ant you and Johnny to remem- 
ber that I am your financial backer for all the 
good that you can do. Your Boy Scout secre- 
tary said that you would send me a report of 
your work. You are delivering me important 
parts of it already.” 

Promising to have the old man henceforth 
for his imcle and to hunt up Johnny for fur- 
ther acquaintanceship. Pickup left to return 
to his charge at the Sanitarium. 

Meanwhile Molly was still finding her 
greatest interest in the crowds of the Zone. 
Men had never before looked so good to her. 
She often wished that Fate had not restricted 
her to a man with three signs. But no one 
can ask any questions of Fate. However, it 
was becoming easier to read the signs. She 
was becoming expert at looking through 
shoe laces at the styles of socks and around 
the flowing ties that sometimes covered shirt 
fronts. She had noticed that once in a while 
one of her suspects looked annoyed at her, 

136 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


but what was that in comparison with the 
fortunes of Fate? 

While on the alert through a thick flowing 
crowd, she suddenly flushed with anticipa- 
tion, as a hunter does when he catches a 
glimpse of the wary fox. 

A broadbrim was swaying among the heads 
before her. She breathed quickly and hur- 
ried forward to see if this were not the one 
foreordained for her from the foundation of 
the world. Then a grimace of disgust swept 
over her face. She recognized the manly 
form of Ab still playing his game upon her. 
Now she would fix him. Eight before that 
crowd she would teach him a lesson. Perhaps 
then he would go back to the farm and tend 
to the stable where he belonged. 

She let him get out into an open space and 
then she swatted that hat all out of shape and 
sent it whizzing across the road under the 
feet of the people. She followed it up with 
a whack on the right cheek and was about to 
land one on his left when the startled 
stranger looked aroimd. It was not Ab. 
Worse than all he had on a ruffled shirt. An 
instinctive glance down discovered the third 
sign. It was the first time she had met that 
combination of all three together since Ab’s 
joke. 

But the man was mad. He whirled around 


137 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


with an uppercut that would have landed 
anything in the shape of a man in the gutter. 
It went over Molly head. Seeing it was a 
woman, who looked as if she was having a 
fit, he grabbed his hat from the hand of 
a sympathetic bystander and fled. Molly 
looked up at the bystander. He was twisting 
about under the contortions of one enormous- 
ly amused. The shock almost killed her. 



The benevolent bystander was her friend Ab. 
But now he had on a hat almost ,as much too 
small as the other had been too large. His 


13S 



UNCLE JEREMIAH 


shirt was as smooth as his face and his socks 
were too thin to wear more than a week. 

Molly didn’t know how to cry as women 
generally do to throw off their embarrass- 
ment or distress, but she could whimper and 
wipe her eyes. This evidence of acknowl- 
edged defeat nearly broke Ab’s heart, and 
when a guard came roughly forward to ar- 
rest her, Ab guarded the fellow off and took 
Molly under his wing all the way back to the 
Green Tree Hotel. 

But by the time their street car had ar- 
rived at the corner of the hotel, Molly had 
recovered her serenity and her nerve. 

‘‘You think you’re awful snxart, Abner 
Bean,” she flared up as she dismissed him 
from further service, “and I suppose you’ll 
throw all this up to me when we git back to 
the farm till life is fairly miserable. But if 
you do. I’ll persuade TJncle Jeremiah to dis- 
gorge you. Plague take it! You plague, 
you!” 

She left him gasping and ran on into the 
hotel. 

That evening at the hotel Merrilee re- 
ported an interesting day at the wonderful 
university in Palo Alto. Molly announced 
that there was nothing more in the Zone for 
her to see and she was now ready to return 
home to the farm, satisfied that there were no 


139 


UNCIiE JEREMIAH 


clairvoyants and that all gypsy fortune tell- 
ers were liars. 

Uncle Jeremiah went to his room to retire 
for the night after such a strenuous and ex- 
citing day as his had been, but presently he 
returned. 

‘‘I didn’t tell you my adventures,” he said, 
for fear it might disturb your dreams to- 
night, and so intended to entertain you at 
breakfast in the morning. However, I have 
just found a letter in my coat pocket that 
makes me want to tell it all now.” 

Forthwith he proceeded to recoimt the 
day’s experiences in detail. Then he unfold- 
ed and read the note. 

‘‘Dear Uncle Jeremiah: 

“I didn’t intend to get into boy’s clothes 
and I hate them. Everybody treats me so 
dreadfully di:fferent. It’s horrible to be 
treated like a boy. In the morning I’m going 
to spend most of my money for clothes. Day 
after tomorrow I’m fourteen. That evening 
I’m going over to the Campfire Girls’ Camp 
and surrender. I’m going to throw myself 
on the mercy of the court. There can’t be 
any worse jail than being a boy when you’re 
a girl. Then the next morning there will be 
telephoning that the lost girl is foimd and 
I’ll be turned over to my dear relatives. I 
can’t hardly wait till it happens. I want to 


140 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


be bossed. I am sure now that I will like it 
I want to be a lady after I am fourteen. 

‘‘I mean that I want to be a lady and have 
a boss while I am in the city, which will be 
only till I can get out of it, and land where a 
person can think sense and act up to it. City 
manners looks more risky than the horns and 
heels of the stock farm. I’ve tried it and it’s 
more comfortable living among the sandburrs 
and cactus. 

‘‘I met a homesick fellow today named 
Abner. He got well by practicing new 
thought. He kept assertin’ to himself, ‘we’ll 
be happy yet, you bet.’ It made me feel 
better. 

“Love to you aU, even to my funny friend, 
Molly. 

“From Johnny.” 


14-1 


X. 

REVENGE INVADES PEACEFUL 
PLACES LIKE A THIEF IN 
THE NIGHT. 

Rig Veda was not very serious or stren- 
uous in fulfilling his fancies as either hero or 
poet. He had no interest in acquiring re- 
sponsibility. As the hunter for sheer pleas- 
ure chases the elusive fox through the forest, 
so he loved to chase conduct through its illu- 
sive affectations to see what it really 
meant to do. He enjoyed a lively gamble of 
guesses over the means and methods used by 
various types of individuals in serving their 
feelings. He liked to follow up peculiar ap- 
pearances to see their process of arriving at 
results. In this mood, quite ready for such 
impressions, he came strolling over one of the 
hilltops toward the bay after a look through 
Chinato\vn, when he saw the closely draped 
figure of a small woman a few steps before 
him suddenly go skipping along to the corner 
and peer around in a way to present to him a 
question not only of curiosity, but one of his 
favorite problems. What could a Chinese 
woman be acting like that for? Contrary 
suggestions came forward with the theory 


142 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


that only a Japanese woman would show such 
excitement and agility. The side glance he 
got as she ran around the corner Added to the 
perplexity by several points from the discov- 
ery that she was a white woman. As an ex- 
pert in solving probabilities and overcoming 
obscurities, his reputation was at stake with 
himself. In the interest of benevolent 
shrewdness toward unraveling difficulties, as 
well as for the pleasure of such a game, he 
had long before mastered all that the most 
noted experts could give him in the occult 
arts of mental manipulations, muscle reading 
and sleight-of-hand feats, including other 
mystifying professions. No accidental com- 
bination ever popped up before him that was 
not a challenge to his skill, and nothing of the 
kind was ever allowed to defeat his ability to 
solve the problem. He believed that every 
human puzzle solved by him promoted his 
proficiency for larger complications wherein 
he would find satisfaction and success. 

With increasing interest to vindicate his 
science, he hurried on past the many pedes- 
trians who saw nothing worthy of their at- 
tention, gained the opposite side of the street 
and came across from the figure that had be- 
come his problem. Brief observation dis- 
closed that she was moving to keep pace with 
a man she had in sight, .who was distin- 


143 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


guished cMefly among the shifting pedes- 
trians of the sidewalk by the varying speed 
and cross moveipents of a broad-brimmed hat. 
But this only advanced the problem. Why 
was the broad-brimmed hat making such ec- 
centric changes in speed and direction? 

Eig Veda had convinced himself that there 
is an astronomy of human wills. That is, he 
believed that the movement of each will was 
affected by the movement of other wills ac- 
cording to a system of influence proportioned 
in a system as fully reciprocal as that of the 
stars. As astronomical mathematicians lo- 
cate unseen planets by calculating the varia- 
tions of surrounding bodies, so a sufficiently 
expert social scientist should be able to inter- 
pret the movements of one will by the ag- 
gressive or defensive conduct of others in the 
sphere of influence. He decided that an un- 
seen will on the defensive was accountable 
for the aggressive changes under the broad- 
brimmed hat. The task was now to discover 
that disturbing will and he would have a 
chain of causes actually leading to a reason- 
able explanation of the situation. But he 
could frequently see clear streets beyond the 
hat and the theoretical will thus disturbing 
the man was nowhere in evidence. His 
dashes here and there did not look as if he 
were trying to seize any one, but rather to 


144 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


keep some one in sight who was trying with 
equal zeal to avoid him. This put a new point 
to his interest. Was this a detective spotting 
a criminal or was it a victim endeavoring to 
escape a criminal? Some light broke into 
this question when he saw a little girl run out 
of a hallway toward which the broad hat was 
coming and turn as quickly as possible into a 
narrow alley at the corner of the building. 
This glimpse quickened his perception as 
well as his interest. As the man turned to 
pass back to the next street, Eig Veda re- 
membered seeing such a face at the horse- 
race, where he had gone with Merrilee after 
he had lost sight of Paquita at the military 
reservation. 

His science had gone into interpretations 
so far beyond the feminine form he had start- 
ed out to follow that he had forgotten all 
about her, when he was suddenly reminded 
of the original mystery by seeing her cross 
the street and walk along cautiously directly 
in front of him. Why she was spotting the 
big hat was now of minor importance, but it 
must not be neglected as she might be able to 
throw considerable light on the suspicious 
proceedings operating before them. With 
that idea in mind he stepped briskly forward 
and laid his hand on her shoulder. She 


145 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


hopped around with rather a disconcerting 
screech of fear. 

^^Oh, Mr. Eig Veda!” she exclaimed, al- 
most collapsing with relief, ‘^I’m so almighty 
glad it’s nobody worse than you. I’m begin- 
ning to be skeered. I slapped a man yester- 
day in the Fair grounds and made him awful 
mad and he has been keeping right along in 
front of me for upwards of a mile.” 

‘‘Well, I’m glad it’s no worse than you, 
Molly,” Eig Veda replied, with perhaps more! 
evidence of disgust in voice and gesture than 
his pride in self-control intended to display. 
“But tell me at once what is that man doing 
going first slow, then fast, and crossing and 
recrossing the street?” 

“I don’t know,” she replied humbly, “un- 
less he’s trying some way to dodge Fate. I’m 
an old-fashioned Scotch Presbyterian, Mr. 
Eig Veda, and what is to be will be. You 
can’t get away from it.” 

Theology was not now in Eig Veda’s line 
of investigation. The big hat was • already 
out of sight around the corner. 

“Excuse me,” he replied impatiently, 
shaking loose her hand which was holding on 
to his coat sleeve. “I’ve got more important 
business.” 

He made a step forward, but was brought 
back by a heavy hand on his shoulder. 


146 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


“Not till ye pollygize/’ was the venement 
explosion in his ear. “She’s a leddy, she is, 
and has to be treated like one even in San 
Frisky.” 



“No! No!” cried Molly, giving the fellow 
a series of punches in the stomach that 
caused him to open his mouth and look pleas- 
ant. “He ain’t got nothing against me and 


147 




UNCLE JEREMIAH 


don’t owe me anything. He’s a hero and a 
poet, for I heam him say so. You ain’t no 
right to sass him, you plague of an Abner 
Bean. Sich folks as he is ain’t got nothing 
agin leddies, have they, Mr. Rig, Mr. Veda?” 

‘‘Well, he’s got to poUygize anyhow, fer 
I’ve got t6 make somebody pollygize ’fore I 
leave this town, jist to show ’em I can do it,” 
cried Abner wrathfully. “And this looks like 
as good a floppertunity as I can git.” 

Rig Veda tweaked him under the chin and 
turned again to follow the big hat. Ab was 
not to be thwarted so easily in his resentment 
against “San Frisky” and things in general. 
He reached out his hand and hooked the de- 
parting gentleman around the neck and 
brought him back around. This was losing 
precious time. Severe measures were re- 
garded 0 ,s necessary. Rig Veda landed one 
on Ab’s solar plexus and he doubled over like 
a landsman on deck in a stormy sea. 

“There now, that will do ye,” exclaimed 
an authoritative voice, as Rig Veda turned 
from his pugilistic feat and bumped into a 
self-satisfied gentleman who turned back his 
coat and displayed the star of a plain clothes 
man from the police force. “I’ve been watch- 
ing yer quare actions for siveral blocks, and 
when ye laid yer hands on the loidy’s shoul- 
der it was time fer me to intervene. Ter way 


148 


UXCIiE JEREMIAH 


of walking the streets av a decent city aire too 
crooked fer pastime or business. It ’ud suit 
only the conduct of a luny or crook. And it 
ends in a f eight.” 

Eig Veda attempted to explain. 

^‘Tell it all to the station. Tell it all to the 



station,” he repeated. ‘‘There’s a rigular of- 
ficer fer that job. We’ve got to clane this city 
of suspicious characters. We have to protect 


149 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


the citizens of all nations this year. Come on 
wid ye.’’ 

He reached around for the discomfited Ab- 
ner, but that worthy was going down hill 
faster than a drunken gambler. Molly was 
then told when to appear as a witness and she 
was left bewildered and humbled to make her 
way over the billowy earth back to the Green 
Tree Hotel. 

The incorruptible officer of municipal 
cleanliness started for the station with his 
suspicious character. 

‘‘Why didn’t you get onto the zigzags and 
curves of the chap I was following?” in- 
quired Eig Veda. “You might have had 
something to ‘clane up’ that needed it, if you 
had felt on a few links ahead in the chain of 
circumstantial evidence.” 

“There now, none of yer kiddin’ to an of- 
ficer in pursoot of his dooty,” responded the 
officer, with a series of emphatic jerks to 
show that he was on to his job. “I’m doin’ 
me own business.” 

As nothing could be accomplished in the 
presence of such infallible assurance, ^ silence 
and obedience prevailed on to the sergeant’s 
desk at the station. There the telephone 
brought release to the captive, who at once 
hired an automobile and hurried back to the 
scene of his investigation, but the big hat and 


150 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


the object of its pursuit were nowhere discov- 
erable in that region. Neither could anyone 
be found who had seen any one of the de- 
scription given by the inquirer. 

Molly may be right,” philosophked the 
defeated solver of human perplexities. 

Science has little chance for success when 
Fate is around.” 

The next morning Rig Veda called to tell 
Uncle Jeremiah of his experience and the 
consequent fears. He found the old man just 
leaving the hotel for a visit to Pickup at the 
Sanitarium. The visitor invited him into his 
car. They would go together and talk on the 
way. 

They drove up to the Sanitarium just as 
Pickup arrived from an all-night ^s visit out 
at a boy scouts’ camp near the Twin Peaks. 
His task was about done with Nugget because 
that worthy friend was now restored to good 
health and ,a sound mind, excepting that he 
was still weak and easily exhausted. 

They went up to the office together for the 
customary permission to visit the patient’s 
room. There they were informed that Nug- 
get had gone out the evening before, after re- 
ceiving a note delivered by a .woman, and had 
not yet returned. 

With this unaccountable news, they went 
up to his room and found it had been left hur- 


151 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


riedly had not since been occupied. They 
searched the place in vain for some clue to 
this unexplainable conduct, until Eig Veda 
found a scrap of paper that had fallen under 
the edge of the bed. He smoothed it out and 
read aloud: 

^^Lew Havron: Tour daughter Paquita has 
come to the Exposition and got lost in the 
city. The Lady bringing you this note will be 
waiting at the corner south of your place to 
take you to her. Money is expected for the 
trouble.’’ 

There was no signature but the initials 
^‘0. S.” Uncle Jeremiah was startled with 
the first words of the note. He seemed uncer- 
tain of his ears and asked to see the paper. 

^‘Lew Havron, father of Paquita,” he ex- 
claimed. ‘^He is my nephew. "Wliat does 
this mean?” 

A nurse appeared at the door. 

was the one who took the note from the 
woman,” she explained, ^‘and I could only 
get a glimpse of her, but I thought she looked 
like an Indian woman.” 

‘O. S.’ means Ogallalla Sue,” exclaimed 
Pickup. ^‘That means Val Hone. He threat- 
ened once to get revenge by taking Nugget’s 
daughter and stealing his gold mine. It looks 
like he had started in to do it.” 

‘‘Let’s get into my car at once,” said Rig 


152 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


'Veda to Uncle Jeremiah. ‘^We must set all 
the machinery of the law immediately at 
work. Now watch me beat them all and 
make good that I am some detective.’’ 


m 


XL 

FATE MANIPULATES ANOTHER 
CHANCE. 

Paquita heard some one say early in her 
first visit to the Fair grounds that no one 
could claim to have seen all the sights and 
leave out Chinatown. It was Paquita’s am- 
bition to see all the sights before she sur- 
rendered to the boss system. Therefore, 
however sick she was of the job of going-it- 
alone, she still held to the resolution of seeing 
first of all the sights as a free w^oman of the 
Arizona plains. 

In the satisfied and complacent feeling of 
having vindicated herself and at least par- 
tially conquered, she came upon this final 
sight-seeing expedition, over -the hill on 
^rant Avenue, from which she could see 
down the long, galloping aisles of Chinese 
buildings. 

The fat, round-faced keepers of the ba- 
zaars who followed at her heels as she went 
around among the goods, the chalk-faced, 
statue-like figures she discovered to be fash- 
ionably equipped feminines, and the slant- 
eyed, romping youngsters flitting around in 

U4 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


unperceivable interests, all impressed her 
into breathless observation. 

As she wandered on, ^ number of children 
caught her sight, playing in the edge of a 
small park down the hiU at her right. As 
she turned and walked down that way to see 
more of them she noticed a man clothed like 
a Mexican mountaineer coming across the 
street she had left, as if to take the opposite 
side of the street she was now on. Her in- 
stinct of fear was very sensitive. She hast- 
ened forward and turned the comer quickly 
where she hid so she could watch what he 
was doing. He crossed over to her side and 
quickened his steps as if to keep her in sight. 
His familiar figure grew more distinct and 
she soon became sure that it was Val Hone. 
Her sole idea now was not in going some- 
where but in getting out of his sight. With 
the instinct of a pioneer on the plains pursued 
by a savage, she lost sight of everything in 
the one idea of throwing him off the trail. 
She first tried the experiment of doubling on 
her track, but he always appeared at the cor- 
ners commanding a long view which she 
could not cross. Then she decided to lose 
him by a zigzag course that would keep him 
puzzled and give her time to get out of his 
range of vision and away from him. This ap- 
peared to work admirably, and she had not 

155 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


seen her pursuer for several blocks, when she 
emerged before the car tracks beyond which 
was the long row of sheds composing the slips 
and docks for the boats of the bay. 



A freight train was coming and she hurried 
over to get that friendly obstruction between 
her and her enemy. As she stood looking at 
the cars go by in an unframed mind what to 
do next, frequent shouts of laughter came 
from one of the landing places, indicating 


156 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


that a number of boys and girls were having 
a hilarious time. It made her heartsick for 
companionship, though she realized that com- 
panionship meant distasteful mutualities and 
irksome restrictions. 

The last freight car passed by when her 
thoughts on what to do next were cut short 
by seeing the man of the broad-brim hat turn 
from a corner of a building across the way 
and come directly toward her. Panic-strick- 
en, she ran through the doorway into the 
warehouse dock toward where she had heard 
the voices. She saw a large launch with a lot 
of gay young people crowded to the front. 
They were a party of happy juniors from the 
University of California. The man who im- 
loosened the boat from the pier had just 
stepped aboard and the water was churning 
into a foam as the boat began to move along 
the side of the landing. Like a close-pursued 
fox, looking for anything promising safety, 
she ran forward and sprang on board. When 
the boat was a few hundred yards away she 
saw the broadbrim come out at the point 
where the boat had been stationed and look 
after her. While she was looking at her pur- 
suer, fascinated with the undefined experi- 
ence of her escape, a chorus of voices broke 
in upon her. 

‘‘Ho! He! Ho!’’ was the nautical cry, “a 


157 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


stowaway on our good sMp. A young lady. 
What shall we do with her?” 

Some clamored to throw her overboard. 
Others, more merciful, said that she could 
work her passage over the stormy seas to the 
first port in the ship^s passage. After much 
vu’angling the merciful suggestion prevailed 
and they asked her what she could do to pay 
her way. She had understood the bantering 
and badinage from the start and entered into 
the mood of it with youthful pleasure. 

‘‘I can dance,” was her laconic answer. 

Nothing could be more desirable. She 
should dance for the cost of her passage over 
to the far distant shores. The decks were 
cleared for action, so to speak, and the debu- 
tante invited forth. But at the first dash 
they were taken by surprise. They had ex- 
pected nothing more than some ridiculous 
gyrating at which they could laugh and over 
which they could amuse themselves as a 
lucky episode for their pastime. 

The little girl came whirling forward in a 
Spanish dance that took her at a leap in their 
estimation from something to ridicule to the 
place of a beloved idol. At the conclusion the 
girls smothered her with kisses and the boys 
gathered around them unsatisfied because 
conventionality allowed them nothing better 
to offer than cheers, even if it coifid have 


158 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


been true that they had anything better. It 
^as imanimonsly voted with additional 
cheers that she had paid in full for her pas- 
sage over. 

To all their questions, who she was, how 
she came to be aboard, and where she was go- 
ing, she answered that it was not to be told 
till the next day, as she was playing a joke on 
her friends. As to her name, they should call 
her till then by her mother’s name, Anita. As 
to her place for the night, she would like to 
stay with one of these girls. Would she? It 
was a quarrel all the way to the university 
grounds who should have her. Peace was re- 
stored only when it was agreed that they 
should consider her a guest among some se- 
lect girls chosen from their set to see her 
dance that evening. They arrived at the 
grounds, but before they separated from 
their impromptu conference under one of the 
big Le Conte live-oaks of the campus a sug- 
gestion of more extended interest was adopt- 
ed. In the afternoon following the class was 
to have an entertainment known as the dance 
of all nations on the floor of the great Greek 
Theatre. Where could they And anything for 
the Spanish dance that could equal Anita? 
It was a lucky And. The little girl would be 
kept secret as a surprise for the coming day. 

That night after only such a festive expe- 


159 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


rience as vivacious Junior girls can provide, 
an elaborate Spanish dancing costiune was 
improvised. It was gorgeous and fanciful 
enough to delight any taste for Castilian dis- 
play in the whirl of draperies and the clink of 
castanets. 

Meanwhile a telephone message from the 
Fair grounds to the Green Tree Hotel had 
made an appointment for Captain Mulf ord to 
take Miss Merrilee over to Berkeley to see 
an open ,air dance given by the Juniors in the 
university. One of the guards who was a 
Junior there had insisted that his captain 
take his best girl and go over for a good show 
and an all-around pleasant afternoon. 

On learning of this arrangement, Molly 
thought it a good time, while all were away, 
for her to have a good sleep for most of the 
afternoon. But only a few minutes elapsed 
after Merrilee ’s departure when the call of 
the wild came upon her. She could now and 
then have a sleep through the afternoon 
back at the farm. What was the use to waste 
precious time in this region of prophecy? 
She must do her part or destiny might also 
rest on its job. 

Street cars were utterly untamable crea- 
tures for Molly. They came and went where- 
ever they pleased. She had often yelled 
‘^Whoa!’’ and ‘‘Ho!” when she wanted one 


160 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


of them to stop, but the thing didn’t even 
have horse sense. One fact, however, she had 
learned, and that was that most of them took 
her around the loop at the ferry if she stayed 
on long enough. She decided that there 
could be no more interesting afternoon for 
her than to go down to the ferry and watch 
the crowds and the boats. 

Fate was again working in a mysterious 
way its wonders to perform. She saw such 
vast numbers every few minutes filling up 
the waiting room between the ticket wickets 
and the ferry gates, which as often opened 
and let them into the boats, that she decided 
that there must be some very exciting affair 
going on in that direction somewhere. On 
inquiry she found that ferry tickets didn’t 
cost much and she decided that it was prob- 
ably worth the experiment to find what so 
many were going out that way for. While 
pondering over the question. Fate came 
around with an indisputable reason. The 
broad-brim hat that had twice come across her 
pathway, the one that had under it a pleated 
shirt and low wool socks, came past the win- 
dow before her. The man hastily bought a 
ticket as he went. Molly fiew by after him 
as if a puff of wind had taken her across 
through the same act. She kept him in sight 
as he went on to the boat and when he was 


161 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


gloomily seated on the upper deck she found 
a comfortable place where she could gaze on 
him as the tried and proven gift of Pate. 

How noble and kind he looked! Undoubt- 
edly he was a leader in righteousness and 
good works. If anything now intervened in 
this new evidence of prophesied Fate, it was 
sure because she had not treated the gypsy 
prophetess right. She should not have ridi- 
culed the gypsy’s foresight nor failed to have 
caught the bantam rooster in proper payment 
for the benevolent vision of the good woman. 



In the midst of her admiring, world-exclud- 
ing reflections, she heard a full, heaving sigh 
at her side. Her startled glance encountered 


162 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


a face beaming with the fullness of joy upon 
her. It was again the farm lover who had 
threatened ‘‘to foller’’ her around, “plague 
take it,” and was succeeding in his threat. 

The apparition of Ab at her side overawed 
her. Could a human being be as persistent 
as Fate ? It looked so. 

The passengers had all arisen to go ashore. 
She gave the two men some swift glances of 
comparison, and then with a look of wither- 
ing scorn upon the inferior one at her side, 
she wriggled away through the crowd with 
the leading interest of keeping in view the 
broad hat that had pressed its way well to the 
front. It would not be her fault if Fate fell 
from grace and destiny was defeated. 


XII. 

WHEN FATE PROVIDES AN OVER- 
ABUNDANCE. 

Molly saw the broadbrim board a car which 
she could not get, but she got the next one, 
and took her chances by leaving it where 
most of the passengers seemed to have had 
enough for their half-dime. The young folks 
scattered ahead of her and she walked on 
along the broad driveway into the University 
campus. Ahead of her she saw a broad-brim 
hat and, with an instinct that was now almost 
a habit, she directed her steps that way. As 
she came up she noticed there was a group of 
a dozen broadbrims sitting on the lawn. Evi- 
dently Fate was bringing her where she 
could have an extended choice. The oppor- 
tunity enlarged .again. On her left there was 
another group of half a dozen broadbrims ap- 
proaching and she began to feel uncomfort- 
able in the midst of such a prodigality of Fate. 
And still they came! -Mother bunch ap- 
peared on her right. A score or more now 
came out of a building, and as if by common 
impulse turned her way. This was too much, 
even of a good thing. She ran by the mobiliz- 
ing army of broadbrims on up the hill. As if 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


greeted by superhuman design, the battal- 
ions of broadbrims began to move after her. 
Then she saw them appearing from every 
direction. The woods was full of them. It 
became a nightmare. The impaid gypsy 
woman was indeed having her revenge or 
Fate had been too strongly invoked. Unable 
to undertake her part under such a profusion 
from the benevolence of responding destiny, 
she fled through an opening to which she 
came that looked like an alleyway between 
two buildings. She found herself between a 
row of chairs in the presence of a great crowd 
of people. There she fell back in a near se^t 
in a dead faint. Before her was an amphi- 
theatre of broadbrims intermixed with fluffy 
white creatures who seemed to have beat her 
to a selection by each of her broadbrim man. 
Tier on tier arose against the green back- 
ground of the mountain in an oblong half- 
circle, around an arena reminding her of a 
circus she once attended, and she had just 
entered as the performers do in a circus. The 
thought overwhelmed her. 

The innocent freshmen, who wore broad- 
brim hats as the badge of their educational 
rank, were gathering for one of their annual 
social affairs with no idea of furthering the 
foreordinations of any frolics decreed by Fate. 

Captain Mulford and Merrilee had found 


165 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


seats higli up in the rear. As the bewildered 
broadbrim hunter reached the end of her 
journey, Merrilee caught a glimpse of her. 
How Molly had arrived there was the most 
amazing perplexity she had met west of the 
Eockies. But Fate has many tricks in its 
trade. Molly was perhaps one of the easiest. 

The afternoon was balmy as only a Cali- 
fornia day can be and the tiers of seats were 
filled with a buzzing throng. Busy Juniors 
fiitted back and forth oyer the rostrum and 
through the pit. The music began with char- 
acteristic folk songs and representative na- 
tional dances. The printed program was 
now completed and no surprise had yet been 
sprung, but the bustling figures under the 
great archway indicated that the expected 
was about to arrive. 

A fluffy figure, in the midst of the final 
music, came tripping into view from behind 
the columns, and stopped for a bow before 
the welcoming applause. Then it flitted down 
to the dancing floor and began to skip about 
to the clink of castanets and the melodious 
ripples of a single guitar. After the dizzy 
whirl was concluded she bowed to the vocif- 
erous applause, ran up the steps to the stage, 
flitted around under the archway, bowed 
again to the uproarious students and disap- 
peared around the great columns in the rear. 


166 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


The good-night chorus was drowned out 
with the persistent encore, hut nothing 
availed to bring back the little Spanish 
dancer. 

When the chorus ended and the .andience 
began to disperse Merrilee tried to find 
Molly, but Molly wanted to see the Green 
Tree Hotel. Fate was playing jokes on her. 
It was an undignified thing for Fate to do. 
Between the persistence of Ab and the host 
of broadbrims the intentions of Fate seemed 
too complicated for the proper conduct of an 
ordinary mortal. She wanted to give it up 
and go back to the farm. 

As Captain Mulford and Merrilee reached 
the ground a young woman ran up and hand- 
ed her a note, not waiting for any answer. 
Surprised that she was the object of a note, 
she held it up so that they read it together. 

^‘Dear Cousin Merrilee: 

‘‘This is the biggest birthday I ever had. I 
hope you, liked my dancing. Some girls and 
boys are taking me in an automobile to the 
ferry so I can get to the campfire girls before 
night. I know how to go. I think it's better 
to surrender to the ones I escaped from. 
They will feel better to deliver me to my dear 
relatives in the morning. Besides, I want to 
tell them that I can take care of myself and 


167 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


see all the sights. I just know we’ll like each 
other whole heaps. 

‘‘Your Cousin Paquita.” 

“Talking about phantoms,” exclaimed 
Mulford, “that little cousin of yours has ’em 
all skinned a mile.” 

As the people began to move away Molly 
surged forward toward the front of the crowd 
with but one leading idea, and that was how 
to escape the broadbrims and arrive at the 
quiet and safe retreat of her own room. She 
reached the gate of the campus, where there 
was an automobile marked for hire standing 
waiting at the curbstone for a customer. It 
occurred to her that the street cars here 
might be as crazy as over in the city, with the 
chances of landing her anywhere else besides 
the ferry. She was more familiar with what 
could be done with a chauffeur in an automo- 
bile. Her decision was made without debate. 
She opened the door and climbed into the car. 
The half-asleep chauffeur was hardly aware 
of having a passenger until she called out 
sharply, “I want to go straight to the ferry.” 
He grasped his wheel and turned to look at 
his fare when a man came rushing out of the 
campus and across the road to the machine. 
He was shaking ,a five dollar bill toward the 
chauffeur and yelling “Get me to the ferry 


168 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


before the next boat leaves and you get this. 
I’ll pay all fines for speed.’’ 

Without waiting for the consent required, 
where it takes two to make a bargain, or giv- 
ing any attention whatever whether the ve- 
hicle contained another passenger, perhaps 
desiring to go elsewhere, he sprang into the 
front and took his seat by the driter. As the 
chauffeur had never before experienced such 
a whirlwind passenger, the proposition did 
not quickly come to order in muscular action. 
But the broadbrim man was in a hurry. He 
caught the fellow by the shoulder and gave 
him a good Wake-up shake. Then there was 
an interruption, j^other contestant entered 
the arena. 

‘‘Hey, there!” cried an excited voice, “you 
trying to run away with that lady? I’ll cook 
yer goose fer you. Plague take it! you old 
plague. Nobody but me kin elope with Molly.” 

Ab sprang upon the footboard just as the 
machine gave a lurch forward. It fiung him 
off. But he was not to be foiled. As the rear 
of the machine swung around he made a leap 
for the tire lashed behind, caught it, and 
perched himself upon the rim like a toad in a 
round picture frame. 

Molly was in an ecstasy of expectation. 
Fate was indeed kind to her. Here was this 
glorious man forced to meet her in divers 

169 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 

places .against Ms own thought-out plans. 
The difficulties disturbing their harmonious 
meeting were doubtless due to the inharmo- 
nious way in which she had treated the 
prophecy and the prophetess back at the 
farm. 

She tried in various ways to get his atten- 
tion, so she could explain away her attack 
on Mm in the Fair grounds, but the vigorous 
leaps and bounds of the machine prevented 
anything getting across to him. In an incred- 
ibly short time they bumped up against the 
end of their journey at the ferry. Ab crawled 
off unobserved at the side as the whirlwind 
passenger stood up in the car and cursed his 
luck at seeing the boat drawing away from 
the bridge too late for him to get aboard. 
Molly stepped out ^and waited in feverish 
expectation as the noble-looking man stood 
erect and voiced his passion at the luck run- 
ning so hard against his will. Then a small 
launch with the motorman idly smoking at 
the machine caught his attention. He got 
down out of the automobile as an id^a was 
collecting its forces in his mind, and stood 
for a brief moment absorbed in thought. This 
was the psychological moment Fate had 
planned in order to give Molly a chance. She 
took the chance. 

Mr. Niceman,” she exclaimed, laying a 

170 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


soft touch on his arm, ^‘you’ll forgive me 
when you know why I knocked off your hat 
^nd slapped your face in the Fair grounds.’’ 

The all-important idea struggling to come 
clear in his mind was beclouded by the inter- 
ference of sounds coming into his ears from 
the voice butting into his reverie. His rage 



turned at once into ridicule as he saw the in- 
significant cause of the disturbance before 

him. , , . , 

''Hello, honey!” he exclaimed, chuckmg her 
under the chin. "You’re a beauty, sure, but 
I ain’t out on no love affair just now. Put it 
off a few days and I’m your honey boy.” 

171 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Molly was rather taken back with his un- 
expected sweetness mixed with the sternness 
of pressing business. So was Ab. He was 
boiling till the steam was about to cause a 
blow-off if not a boiler explosion. The chuck- 
ing imder the chin with the honey words was 
more than he could be expected to endure. 

Val Hone turned as his eyes were search- 
ing out a way to get down to the launch. But 
there was another interruption to his process 
of thinking. Ab stood before him drawn up 
like a Chinese idol about to enter a death 
grapple with Fate. 

‘‘She’s a leddy,” he vehemently asserted. 
“You’ve got to pollygize. If I do tend a farm 
stable I won’t let no San Frisky man ’suit a 
leddy.” 

Molly stood back as if a ghost had sudden- 
ly appeared before her. How did he get 
there? Val Hone seemed to comprehend. 
He opened his palm and pushed back Ab’s 
face about three yards. This mode of attack 
was so unexpected that Ab came erect, sput- 
tering with astonishment and rage. Val 
Hone turned again from such insignificant, 
if not unaccountable, interruptions, and took 
a step toward the launch. Ab locked the fin- 
gers of his hands together and brought his 
arms down over the enemy’s shoulders like a 
hoop, which he instantly tightened to a vise, 


172 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


thus pinning Val Hone’s arms helplessly to 
his side. Then the farmer stableman leaned 
backward, lifting the fellow off of his feet, 
kicking and struggling like a goat. In this 
form Ab carried his captive to the edge of 
the bridge and let him drop. The wrathful 
enemy struck the waist-deep water with a 
huge splash and then bounded toward the 
shore directly alongside the launch. With 
another jump he was inside the boat giving 
orders to the motorman. This worthy work- 
man was so astonished to see a passenger 
coming up to him out of the depths of the bay 
that he could understand little more of the 
man’s English than if it had been ancient 
Chinese. But a few rough shakes from the 
dripping passenger brought it clear that the 
launch was commandeered to take him across 
to the city. The machine came slowly into 
operation and the boat backed off from the 
shore and gathered speed' for the other side. 
The last the crowd saw of the passenger was 
that he was appropriating, against the pro- 
tests of the motorman, the dry clothing that 
the boatman had kept with him there for a 
change. 

The crowd was not certain of the episode. 
They could not get it quite clear whether 
they stood in the presence of a hero or a fool. 
The patrolman who arrived on the scene did 

173 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


not accept either theory. Somebody had 
broken the peace. One of the parties to the 
violation was gone and irreclaimable, the 
other stood looking after the eccentric offen- 
der as a cur dog does after a jack rabbit that 
has suddenly made up its mind that it has 
ambled along far enough in the process of 
teasing its bulky pursuer. 



So the officer laid a heavy hand on Ab and 
Ab submitted meekly before the majesty of 
the law. 


174 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Seeing that the crowd did not look upon 
the arrest as either very necessary or very 
heroic, the officer asked for explanations. 
Molly couldn’t make explanations. She did 
not dare thus to give away the secrets of 
Fate. She wriggled away through the crowd 
to avoid being mixed up in the scandal of 
having two men fighting about her. Just as 
she emerged from the crowd a street car 
came up and unloaded its passengers. Cap- 
tain Mulford helped Merrilee out and as she 
turned , about Molly caught sight of her. J oy- 
fully she ran up to her friend with an out- 
burst of wrought-up feelings. 

‘‘O me! O my!” she exclaimed, rapturous- 
ly. ‘‘I have just passed through such gor- 
geous excitement. I have just had such su- 
perhuman experiences.” 

At this point the officer came marching 
out with Ab. 

This was a stunning vision., Merrilee did 
not know that Ab would venture anywhere a 
dozen miles from the farm. But there was no 
time to question how he got there. The thing 
now was, what had he done? 

Ab was overjoyed as a shepherd dog to see 
its master coming to its rescue. 

‘‘Officer, what has he done?” inquire^! 
Merrilee solicitously. 

The officer stopped and looked her over. 


175 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


The approval was thoroughly sanctioned 
when Mulford stepped over with her. 

‘‘Do you know him?’^ cautiously asked the 
officer. 

“Yes, sir,’’ she replied promptly. “He has 
charge of our stables on the farm.” 

“Then, to answer your question,” contin- 
ued the officer, “I can’t find out ex.actly what 
he has done.” 

“If you have no use for him,” Merrilee 
said hopefully, “turn him over to us. He has 
always had a good character.” 

“Glad to do it, lady,” replied the officer, 
“glad to do it.” 

He walked away, leaving Ab happy by the 
side of Molly. The next ferry boat took them 
back to the city. 


176 


XIII. 

THE CLAIRVOYANT DETECTIVE 
BUREAU. 

Lew Havron did not answer with full con- 
fidence the siunmons to come to his daughter. 
The reference to money impressed him as not 
being like an honest invitation. The woman 
he foimd at the corner only strengthened his 
suspicion concerning the chances for a trap. 
He could not induce her to speak more than 
monosyllables. The guttural tone of her lim- 
ited replies betrayed to his practiced gar the 
voice of an Indian, or at least haK-breed 
woman. He watched her closely. She would 
not let him walk behind her and she refused 
to let him walk near her. He kept to the 
outer edge of the sidewalk and carefully 
moved around any dark corners where an 
enemy might lie in wait. The impression be- 
gan to prevail with him that the note brought 
to him was unreasonable. 

When fully possessed of that idea, he con- 
tinued on until he came to a well-lighted 
space where no one following could make an 
attack from any near hiding pl;ace, then he 
stopped her by standing out before her. 

‘‘My child is not in this part of the town,’’ 


177 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


he said very decisively, ‘‘unless she has been 
stolen, and I don’t believe that has happened. 
Now you’d better tell me what this means. 



It will be easy to find you, and if anything 
happens to my child, you will get the punish- 
ment.” 

The woman stood lik0 a post without a 
word or sign of understanding. Havron left 
her and returned the way they had come, 
using the same precautions against assault 
from anyone following. When sure of being 
out of sight, he ran around the block, keeping 


178 


UNCIiE JEREMIAH 


.well in the dark, and then came up in an alley 
ahead of where he had left the woman. He 
saw her just as she turned into an alley in 
the next block. He had never followed a trail 
like this, but he had experience enough to 
know that he must be exceedingly cautious 
if he succeeded in trailing an Indian woman 
who probably suspected just what he was 
doing. Her method of taking a zigzag course 
and of making simdry spurts of speed 
through dark places soon made it clear that 
she did not intend for anyone to succeed in 
following her. 

He was almost exhausted and felt as if he 
would be unable to follow her another block 
up the steep hill she was now climbing, when 
she turned down the basement steps of an 
old building which looked as if it had never 
attempted to recover from some ancient as- 
sault of the fire department. This was evi- 
dently merely a temporary place for her, 
quite suited, he believed, for a criminal hid- 
ing place. 

A dim light could be seen far back in one 
of the series of underground rooms. In en- 
deavoring to follow nearer he found the out- 
er doors locked, but at the side there was a 
hallway in which the glass was so broken 
from the door that by careful m,anipulation 
he succeeded in making the opening large 


179 


UNCIiE JEREMIAH 


enough for him to crawl through. He soon 
arrived at the far end of the hall and found 
that he was next to the room in which 
he could see the woman dimly outlined 
through the thick corrugated glass. It was 
with great relief that he became sure she was 
alone, and that the message had been framed 
up for someone to get him into a trap. 

The end of the hall was filled up to her 
door with huge boxes, and he found that he 
could hide in one of them with his head near 
the small open space above the door, where 
he could observe everything of use to him 
that might occur. If any evil really threat-' 
ened his daughter, he would have here the 
surest chance to learn of it, and he remained 
patiently in his hiding place all night. 

The next morning the woman went away 
and he kept the place in view all day until 
her return about sundown. As she had no 
one with her, the mystery of the attempt to 
induce him to go with her remained still un- 
solved. He had about decided that it was no 
longer worth his attention when the plot be- 
gan to unfold. 

He heard some one come tumbling down 
the dark hall and so at once fixed himself for 
discreet observation from his box. A special 
signal was given at the door and the half- 
breed woman opened it, letting the light 


180 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


shine full on his old enemy, Val Hone. The 
visitor went inside, produced a bottle of 
whiskey, and they both took a drink prelim- 
inary to the exchange of important news. 
There was an interruption to Havron’s at- 
tention. A shuffling sound so light that Hav- 
ron could hardly be sure it was a real thing 
fell upon his ears from the near hallway. 
Then it continued on up to the box where he 
was and came by his side. He could see a 
head moving up close to his by the side of the 
open space over the door. Some one else had 
an interest in that conference. A thin streak 
of light played over the man^s face as he 
moved his head for a view of the interior 
and Havron saw that the prominent points 
in the sharp features were dark eyes and coal 
black hair. He would surely know him if he 
ever saw him again. But the conspirators 
were exchanging their news and the new ob- 
server was listening as intently as Havron. 

The half-breed woman told of her failure 
to trap Havron. Val Hone replied that it 
made no difference, as the next day they 
would have the girl. He had just followed 
her from across the bay on to a street car. 
He overheard enough to learn that one of her 
girl friends, while coming across the bay 
with her, had persuaded the girl to go home 
with her over night for a visit that evening to 


181 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


the theatre. The next day they would go 
sight-seeing over to the camp of the campfire 
girls. This proposed trip would take Paquita 
within half a mile of the place where the 
two conspirators had their goods stored. His 
plot was to supply them with a guide who 
would be bribed to take the girl up to the 
storehouse and leave her there on some pre- 
text. To carry out the plan, they must both 
go back that night so as to make their ar- 
rangements early the next day. 

Havron noticed that his nearby listener 
was writing something on a sheet of paper 
which he placed in an envelope. This he dex- 
terously filing through the narrow slit over the 
door so that it struck the ceiling with a sharp 
sound ,and fell down upon the head of the 
man. The stranger then slipped away like a 
shadow. Val Hone and the woman gazed at 
the envelope as at a phantom messenger. 
They looked around to see whence it could 
have come, but from where they stood they 
could not see the slit over the door, and it 
seemed to have fallen through the ceiling. The 
letter looked like a very material thing, but it 
did not appear to have come from any material 
source. Val Hone suddenly bethought himself. 
He ran out into the hallway and down to the 
front. Then he came back and looked through 
the boxes, but fortunately for Havron did not 


182 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


look into the smaller box resting upon the big 
®ne against the wall by the door. Then he 
went back into the room, somewhat subdued, 
and read the letter. 

‘‘C,all on the clairvoyant with this note, at 
Vevay and Cross streets, at noon, as your de- 
sire for the mine is felt among your spirit 
friends, and will be fulfilled, if advice there 
given is fulfilled.’’ 

Astonishment and superstition confused 
them into silence. Then they agreed that 
the summons from the other world was clear 
enough. They must obey it and get their re- 
ward. Hastily gathering up her effects into 
a bundle, the man and woman turned out 
the light and as hurriedly departed. 

Wondering what could be in the letter thus 
to affect his old enemy and the half-breed 
confederate, Havron followed them a couple 
of blocks, where there was an automobile 
standing, into which the two climbed and 
drove away. 

The next day about the middle of the fore- 
noon, when Merrilee was before the mirror 
putting the finishing touches upon her toilet, 
and Molly was adjusting the room, she was 
suddenly startled by an envelope striking the 
glass before her and falling with a clatter 
among the articles spread out upon the stand. 

“Carelessness,” she cried, somewhat in- 


183 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


censed toward the busy caretaker, ‘^what 
made you do that?’’ 

Molly did not know what she meant. 

Merrilee, seeing that it was a sealed en- 
velope, opened it and with rising curiosity 
read; 

gentleman will appear at eleven-thirty 
to take you to call on a clairvoyant, where 
you will hear some definite news about Pa- 
quita.” 

Where did that message come from?” 
she inquired, rather fiercely. But Molly 
knew nothing about it. Merrilee ran to the 
door and opened it. No one was to be seen. 
It was puzzling, to say the least. But she 
didn’t enjoy puzzles, especially when there 
was no thread to begin on in the unraveling. 
Therefore, she decided to wait the coming 
of the gentleman. 

At the moment foretold for the escort to 
appear, Eig Veda came in smiling with the 
expression of one who has come by an ap- 
pointment that needs no explaining. 

She looked at him curiously. 

got your message,” she said, with a 
questioning intonation of her voice. 

‘‘Very well,” he replied. “Then you are 
ready for a very interesting experience.” 

As if the episode was a very natural occur- 
rence and needed no further reference, they 


184 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


passed to other topics, and were soon on their 
way to the house of the clairvoyant. The 
frontage of the clairvoyant ^s iapartments 
bore many signs of temporary occupancy. It 
was emblazoned with many mind-wrecking 
signs, calculated to inspire credulity and 
excite the imagination of believing patrons. 
A diminutive and mystically decorated son 
of India ushered them into an inner shrine of 
soft lights, oriental rugs and undulating 
walls of somber tapestries. 



Merrilee had an abundance of curiosity, 
but she held it well in control. If Rig Veda 
wanted to explain he could do so, if not, she 


185 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


would ^await developments. She was given 
a seat in one of the center rooms made by the 
partitions of draperies and Eig Veda ex- 
cused himself. 

Each of these little square rooms had a 
round table and two chairs very nearly fill- 
ing the room. It seemed to place the seeker 
for foresight into very exclusive nearness to 
the mystic symbols, closely en rapport with 
the clairvoyant. 

Presently some one was placed in the ad- 
joining square. The clairvoyant began talk- 
ing. Merrilee soon became aware that it was 
the voice of Eig Veda. After numerous clever 
preliminary pauses and enlightening re- 
sponses from the seeker for truth, the vision 
began: 

‘‘I see one whom you h^e in the moun- 
tains among the rocks. He finds a rich mine 
of free gold in nuggets. You desire him to 
tell you. I see a man following an Indian 
woman to a room in a basement opening from 
a hallway with many boxes. But no, the man 
refuses to go all the way. A girl with a mind 
related to the man is in the woods of big 
trees. A guide leads her from the rest and 
they appear to be lost. He takes her to a hut 
among the rocks and tells her to wait while 
he climbs up on a higher point to see where 


186 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


they are. She goes in and the door is closed 
upon her by a woman who is a half-breed.” 

‘‘That’ll do,” cried the man in a heavy 
whisper. “What I pay extra money for is 
how to make the man tell where the mine is. 
He owes it to me.” 

Merrilee saw that the room he was in was 
suddenly darkened by a black velvet lid com- 
ing down over it. There was some kind of 
ghastly display within. She could see the 
fitful flashes of light through the tapestry. 

“Yes, yes, you know everything,” she 
he:ard the man say in a low breath. “I’ll do 
as you say. But he owes it to me and I’ll 
keep her in Pine Cone Hill till he tells me 
where the mine is.” 

“My vision now divides,” said the clair- 
voyant. “I see two ways. One is disastrous 
because done by violence, the other is easy 
through secret wisdom. One way the child is 
kept hidden to force the man to exchange his 
mine for her. Then I see a man and a woman 
killed in a mob riot as they are being taken to 
prison. The other way, a clairvoyant goes to 
the girl and through her mind reads her 
father’s mind and finds what is desired. Such 
a chance will come this afternoon and the vis- 
itors will be welcome if the wise way is pre- 
ferred to the worst fate. The secret will be 
read from the mind of the child and told to 


187 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


the Indian woman. You must not be near or 
her mind will be too much disturbed by your 
presence for any reading. You can get the 
secret from the woman.’’ 

Val Hone appeared to be in a dream. The 
voice ceased, the curtain parted and the clair- 
voyant withdrew. The lid of black velvet 
lifted and the room was suffused with a mild 
light. The man ^rose unsteadily to his feet 
and walked on out of the house like one dizzy 
with drink. 

As he passed through the door, Eig Veda 
appeared at the curtain and made a bow to 
Merrilee. 

‘H’m a hero poet,” he began grandiloquent- 
ly. am also some detective. You have 
seen that I can also make an imnression as a 
clairvoyant. Now what do you say to the rest 
of the adventure? I’ll disguise a husky po- 
liceman as chauffeur and we’ll rescue the way- 
ward and willful Paquita.” 

The idea was fascinating. 

‘^Let us go at once,” cried the eager young 
woman. 

And they went. 


188 


XIV. 


HEROISM AS A FINE ART. 

Molly boarded the boat from her adven- 
tures in the University hills with a decided 
slump in enthusiasm. She sat moodily apart 
ruminating on the vicissitudes that attended 
her attempts to do her part in the game of 
Fate. At the ferry landing, Abner Bean sor- 
rowfully went his way, struggling likewise 
with the mystery of social goods, so Happy in 
exchange and so miserable when left to grow 
stale alone. He could not solve the problem 
though he could feel the social waste as keen- 
ly as anyone. 

After Mulford had left them at the hotel, 
Merrilee felt somewhat wearied and asked 
Molly to have a pot of tea sent up to her room. 
Molly never became conspicuous except when 
she saw an opening to be in the lead, and then 
she endeavored to fill the whole stage of ac- 
tion. Merrilee had only to press the button of 
some need and Molly at once assumed to be 
generalissimo of the entire situation. 

Mollie became busy at her trunk and Mer- 
rilee was soon somewhat impatient. 

^‘Did you hear me ask you to get me a pot 
of tea?’^ she inquired. 


189 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


‘^That’s what I’m doing now,” was the 
puzzling reply. 

pot of tea, I said,” Merrilee responded 
quite exasperated at her stupidity. ^^You 
surely can’t get a pot of tea from your trmik.” 

^^Take a look at my foresight,” replied 
Molly, bringing forth a chafing dish and a bag 
of te,a. expected you to want good tea 
some time and the home made is the best. 
Knowing that no one can beat me making tea, 
I brought along your .^having dish and in a 
jifiy we’ll have the best tea in tovm. Then 
while it’s getting ready I’ll run down to the 
fruit stand and get us some of those fine 
sweet corncob grapes. Then we’ll feel like 
spring chickens at sunup.” 

Over a cup of tea all the world nlay be- 
come confidential, but Molly, usually so loqua- 
cious, was now silent, if not touchy, on every- 
thing relating to her own recent eccentric 
and unsuccessful conduct. Therefore, she 
was left to her feelings and no further mo- 
lested on so sore a subject. To be sure, in af- 
fairs of the heart, no words have ever yet 
been invented that can pierce through the 
outer defenses intended to preserve love’s 
freedom to seek its own, and Molly was not 
only serving her own desires but also fulfill- 
ing Pate. 

The next day when the mysterious letter 


190 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


clattered down upon Merrilee’s dressing ta- 
ble, inviting her to visit a clairvoyant for 
second-sight visions of a lost girl, the idea 
flashed in upon Molly with illuminating ef- 
fect, why should she not seek through the 
clairvoyant to find the whereabouts of a lost 
man? Doubtless all this time Fate had held 
waiting for her a message tl^at would have 
made all thing easy. 

In the midst of these thoughts, a boy 
brought in the morning paper. She reached 
up to lay it on the chiffonier when a pink 
sheet slipped from the folds and fiuttered to 
the fioor. It was the advertisement of a 
beauty doctor. 

‘‘Why remain unattractive?*^ 

That was the headline which stared up at 
her in big letters. The lesser display lines 
were equally interesting. 

“You can be beautiful and winning.** 

If Merrilee’s letter was a manifestation of 
spirit forces, this was no less a message to her 
from a supernatural guide. Of course, if 
other women could be made more attractive, 
so could she. The art of beauty with the help 
of Fate would make sure that the broadbrim 
man could not defeat his own destiny. 

Within five minutes after Merrilee had left 
the room with Rig Veda, Molly was in a taxi- 


191 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


cab bolding up before the driver her pink- 
sheet advertisement of the beauty shop. He 
understood and very soon delivered her at 
the professional art parlor which was to give 
a boost to destiny. 

She did not know what she wanted except 
that the promise of the pink-sheet should be 
fulfilled upon her person. The proprietor un- 
derstood and she left nothing undone that 
could be put upon the applicant and into the 
bill. When the itemized account was placed 
before her for settlement, its proportions 
were somewhat staggering, but when she 
looked at herself in the glass, the vision she 
beheld was undoubtedly worth it. 

And now, how to use this newly acquired 
attractiveness was the immediate question. 
It was her duty to ask of the mysteries, even 
the angels could do no more. She had the 
address of the clairvoyant, and as she could 
not trust the erratic street cars, she called a 
cab. 

As she approached the block in which the 
house of prophecy and fortune was situated, 
she was suddenly thrilled at the sight of a 
broad-brim man coming out of the clairvoy- 
ant’s door. He walked hurriedly on toward 
the next street. Could it be that her man had 
been impelled by the mysterious forces to 
seek information concerning her even as she 


192 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


was coming to seek information about him. 
Surely, this play of Fate was thrilling. 

She yelled to the driver to take her on to 
the next corner around which the figure was 
just then turning. She got a glimpse of his 
face and it was indeed her man. This time 
she would not lose him. She wasted some 
precious moments in the chase by jumping 
out of the cab and hurrying toward the broad- 
brim without having paid her fare for the 
taxicab. The driver overhauled her and col- 
lected his fee. She redoubled her speed and 
soon reached his adorable side. But she was 
so out of breath that she could only gasp un- 
intelligible accompaniments to her smile. He 
took one look and fled, but she had him by the 
coat-tail. As he swung off down the street, a 
wild cry arose behind her. 

‘‘Hold on to him, Molly. Vll ketch him and 
this time I’ll finish him fer ye.” 

Abner Bean was coming down the middle 
of the street like a race horse. The voice so 
unnerved Molly that she loosened her hold 
and tumbled into the gutter. Val Hone saw 
his unaccountable enemy in a spurt of speed 
after him. His skill at dodging came into 
good use for him. He stepped into a hallway 
near the corner and Abner dashed by. At the 
comer, the irate pursuer found he was off of 
the trail. His intended victim was nowhere 


193 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


in sight. He ran down to the next street to 
get a more extended view. Then Val Hone 
came out, turned back to the alley and was 
lost to view. 



She ran over to a messenger boy who had 
stopped to laugh at her. 

‘‘There you are! I know you,’’ exclaimed 
Molly. “You’re Eoy Jones of the quick mes- 
suage service. Give me pancil and paper and 
do it quick.” 

The boy thus recognized hastily produced 
the desired articles. 

She hurriedly wrote a line. 


194 



UNCLE JEREMIAH 


There now,” she said in a satisfied tone, 
as she folded the note and gave it to him. 
‘‘You saw that man go down the alley. You 
chase him on that wheel. If you don’t ketch 
him and give him this note, I’ll blow you up 
for the way you talked to me when I was a 
lost soul, needing to be saved. If you give it 
to him, come around to the Green Tree Hotel 
and Uncle Jeremiah will give you a dollar.” 

The boy under such dire threat and for 
such a promised reward, mounted his wheel 
and took after the broadbrim which he could 
see bobbing along with considerable speed in 
the distance. 

Molly called to her taxicab man who had 
been curiously watching the scene. She shut 
the door upon herself just as Abner came 
puffing back around the corner to tell Molly 
that their mutual enemy had again escaped 
him. But Molly had disappeared also and he 
gave it up as a mystery too deep for ordinary 
minds. 

Eoy Jones came up behind Val Hone, call- 
ing out to him and waving the note. The man 
received it with incredulous interest. 

He read: “Don’t fight Fate, but get beauty 
and fortune intended for you from the found- 
ation of the world. Inquire 614 Green Tree 
Hotel.” 


195 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Val Hone turned to question the boy but 
that valiant hustler was then out upon the 
next street. Val Hone studied the thing. He 
was a firm believer in luck and he didn’t want 
to miss any chances. A good gambler never 
fails to weigh with precision his list of chances 
and luck. Without doubt he must investigate. 
To be sure he ought to be out with the Indian 
woman watching for the clairvoyant who was 
to read the father’s secrets through the mind 
of the child, but the gamble for immediate re- 
sults lay favorably toward seeing what this 
b,eauty and fortune could be that had been his 
from the foundation of the world. He be- 
lieved the Indian woman could attend to the 
clairvoyant visitor. He remembered that 
the sightseer had said that his infiuence should 
not be present to disturb the harmonious 
equilibrium necessary between the mind of 
the child .and its father. Also, it had been 
foretold that he would get the secret of the 
mine of nuggets from the Indian woman to 
whom it would be revealed by the clairvoy- 
ant. Enough said! He would investigate the 
mystery of the Green Tree Hotel. 

Val Hone and the messenger boy arrived 
about the same time, but the man had taken 
the precaution to change his clothing and 
otherwise alter his appearance to avoid recog- 
nition in so public a place. Roy Jones did not 


196 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


know him. They came up to the door together 
and Val Hone recognized him as the bicycle 
boy who had given him the note. He took the 
boy aside and questioned him closely but the 
messenger boy knew nothing except that he 
had been told to come there and collect a dol- 
lar from an old man named Uncle Jeremiah. 

While they were talking, Val Hone saw an 
unwelcome vision. He became greatly dis- 
turbed over the presence of a rather stalwart 
figure coming stalking lazily up to the en- 
trance before which they were standing. It 
was Abner, his unaccountable enemy. Abner 
caught sight of the boy and picked up con- 
siderable interest. 

^^Say, ain^t you the kid I seen laughing at a 
leddy about an hour ago? What’r you ’round 
here for?” 

The boy braced up. 

^H’m here for getting a dollar for carrying 
a note from the lady who wiped up the ditch 
with herself to this gentleman here who was 
then streaking it up the alley.” 

Abner got a look at the man indicated by 
the boy. So unexpectedly finding his enemy 
right at hand confused his automatic action. 
He tried to hit the fellow with both fists and 
kick him with both feet. Val Hone preferred 
not to wait for the natural regularity to get 
back into his enemy’s limbs. He tried the 


197 


tJlVOLB JEREMIAH 


former successful trick of shoving Ah’s face 
back two or three yards and succeeded. When 
Abner got to his feet, the enemy who fought 
so differently from anything he had ever ex- 
perienced, was well up the street and increas- 
ing the distance at a rapid gait. Abner went 
after him but as usual the foxy fugitive soon 
disappeared, as if he had a way of making 
himself invisible whenever Abner was reach- 
ing after him at close range. 

Eoy Jones was much amused. He laughed 
so heartily that he soon had an inquiring 
crowd around him. Ab came back with feel- 
ings sorely ruffled. The laughing boy caught 
his attention. Such levity was adding insult 
to injury. 

He pulled three or four nickels and half a 
dozen pennies from his pocket. 

'^Say,” he said with a weighty attempt at 
fine sarcasm, as he poured the coins into the 
boy’s hand, ^ there’s big money fer yer little 
job. Now you git up and git, ur I’ll make it 
so hot ye can’t sit on yer bicycle.” 

Meanwhile, Molly had exercised herself in 
her room and around through the corridors 
and parlors in a high state of expectation con- 
cerning the effect of her note. Seeing the 
crowd collecting before the entrance, she in- 
stinctively took a cautious look out over them 
to see if it concerned her. It evidently jdid, 


198 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


for there stood Abner Bean quarreling with 
someone. Her foreordained lover might be in 
danger from that pestiferous fellow from the 
farm. She descended in wrath upon him and 
the crowd gave way. Abner was giving his 
final instructions to Eoy Jones when she burst 
into the scene. 



^‘Here, boy, here’s the dollar I promised 
you, if you give him the note,” she sputtered 
between the embarrassment of such a crowd 
and the desire for good news. ‘‘Did you give 
it to him?” 

“I did,” replied the boy, “and he was here 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


just now to answer your note and this coun- 
try lunatic drove him away.’’ 

Abner made a dive for the messenger boy, 
but the boy had a quick call for safety first, 
^nd he made good with a triumphant flourish 
of the dollar as he disappeared down the 
street. Molly slipped out of the crowd and 
back into her room to study over how it was . 
possible for Abner to be able so often to de- 
feat Fate. Abner didn’t feel on good terms 
with the crowd as they broke forth here and 
there in an irritating launch. He stuck his 
hands into his pockets and went whistling 
down the street, in an attempt to think as he 
was accustomed to do on the farm. 


XV. 


THE SHACK UNDER THE ROCKS. 

Pickup was lost. That is, he was lost if 
such can be said of one who starts from 
nowhere and travels with no place to go. He 
had the feeling of being lost because every 
direction he chose to go appeared to be the 
wrong direction, and every place to which he 
came seemed to be the wrong place. All who 
have arrived at this state of mind, wherein 
everything seen to do looks in its turn to be 
the worst, understand that they have reached 
the bottom of existence where everything ap- 
pears to be so bad that whatever is done must 
be better. 

Nugget could not have gone far and he was 
certainly being dealt with foully by Val Hone 
feomewhere, no doubt not many blocks away. 
And yet, it did not appear reasonable to him 
that his partner could be taken prisoner ex- 
cept in some very skillful confidence trap 
worked by the Indian woman. Therefore, he 
went down into the neighborhood of the 
docks, and up around the buildings in the 
high bluffs, believing that chance would be as 
likely to reveal a clue to him as the most elab- 
orate plan. 


201 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


In this Aimless wandering all day through 
the vague belief of somewhere crossing the 
trail of his friend’s enemy, he discovered that 
he was out of touch with everything familiar. 
Night came on. Then the stars vanished and 
the dim lights of the irregular streets kept 
him uncertain whether he was looking ahead 
into sea or sky. Pew persons were to be 
seen, and he began searching for a place 
where he might hide and shelter himself, with 
some degree of comfort, in some kind of a 
position suitable to sleep. In this search, he 
came upon an object in a side street that look- 
ed decidedly out of place. It was an automo- 
bile that was so set in the shadows of a dark 
corner and in such an unexpected locality, as 
to arouse his curiosity. He found that it was 
a large, roomy touring car and had apparent- 
ly been abandoned there for the night. In 
that case, there was no bed in the city more 
suitable to his weary limbs than the soft, wide, 
cushions of the rear seat. The very thought 
of that luxurious couch made his fatigued 
nerves feel calm and sleepy. In a few minutes 
he was curled up fast asleep between the 
black cushions and the even blacker night. 

How long he thus enjoyed the oblivion he 
did not know, but suddenly he became aware 
of a fpious energy of sound and motion in the 
machine. It gave a lurch as he began to 


202 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


gather together the fragments of understand- 
ing, reassuring him that he w^s not being 
rocked in the cradle of the deep or that his ship 
had not struck an iceberg in midocean. Then 
it^ surged away. Pickup reconstructed his 
mind and body into an attitude suitable to one 
taking an after-dark joy ride in a stolen car, 
and tried to understand his entertainers. The 
first lamp post they flashed by sent the creeps 
racing up and down his spine. The woman 
was Ogallalla Sue and the man was Val Hone. 

Pickup saw, when the car stopped, that they 
were about a block away from the ferry. The 
half-breed got out. Val Hone drove on slowly 
across the broad open way and Pickup took 
the chance of getting out before they came to 
the bright lights where he would be discov- 
ered. He was most interested in following the 
woman, for she was the one who would be in 
charge of Nugget, if he was a prisoner. There- 
fore, he ran across the street into the shadows 
and watched the woman come on around. She 
got a ferry ticket, and went on into the crowd 
which was waiting for the gates to open on to 
the boat. He followed her and soon discovered 
that Val Hone was there going the same way. 

Without difficulty he followed them across 
to the other side of the bay and onto the trol- 
ley line, going he knew not where. He did not 
consider himself lost, as long as he could keep 


203 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Ogallalla Sue in view. Slie was going some- 
where and he meant to keep her company at a 
safe distance. At the end of the line, Val 
Hone went into a little hotel, somewhat con- 
spicuous in the little group of houses, and the 
half-breed went on along the narrow road 
that led around the bluffs. The night had be- 
come clearer, and he could see her form at con- 
siderable distance, but he noticed that she 
stopped frequently as if listening and he un- 
derstood that she was becoming suspicious of 
being followed. He could hardly believe th,at 
they had been able to get Nugget to any place 
where she could be going at that distance, but 
it w^s necessary for him to find out. Whether 
he became inattentive from being absorbed in 
these thoughts, or Indian instinct led the 
woman to play a trick on her trail, is not 
known, but Pickup presently realized that he 
was following nobody. The discovery was 
disquieting. He began to lose his nerve. 
Every rock looked as if it concealed an am- 
bushed enemy and every shadow took on the 
appearance of a human form creeping upon 
him like some jungle beast. To wander about 
was not only to be uncomfortably filled with 
those hidden terrors, but it got him nowhere, 
and he decided to find a place where he could 
finish his sleep, though in a more humble way 
than when he so comfortably and peacefully 


204 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


engaged the berth, an hour or two before, in 
the rear of the touring car. Such a place was 
found upon a bed of leaves drifted into the 
narrow space between two parts of a shelving 
rock that had sunk in the center and had been 
drawn two or three feet apart. He now felt 
as free from care as a soldier in a bomb-proof 
trench and was soon asleep. 

Pickup awoke in the bright daylight. He 
was at the foot of a huge broken bluff. In the 
distance he saw a farmhouse and it suggested 
the chance of forestalling the dreaded hunger- 
pains that so often get away with a boy’s 
courage. The suggestion at once became a 
part of his speedily developed plan that he 
would visit the farmhouse, secure a supply of 
refreshments and then spend the rest of the 
day searching for the place visited by the In- 
dian woman. 

His plan was well carried out, but it w;as 
afternoon before he came around on the far 
side of Pine Cone Hill, where he saw the first 
sign of something looking like a place suitable 
to Ogallalla Sue. This discovery was made 
when he came out on a ledge to look down into 
a narrow basin in the side of the ridge. At an 
angle in the wall up under the shelving stone 
was to be seen the front of a house, built out 
of rock, and consisting of two rooms, one 
upon the other, reaching to the ledge which 

205 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


served as a roof. On the opposite side was a 
wide passageway from the top of the hill worn 
down by the flow of water in rainy weather. 
Before the front of the house, which blended 
so with the overhanging bluffs as to be almost 
invisible a hundred steps away, with a wide, 
rocky, open way into the forest below. He 
thought it was an ideal place for his partner 
to be entombed and starved until he would 



reveal the secret of the rich gold pocket he 
had found. Such was the scheme, he believed 
to be beyond doubt, which caused them to 
make this effort to lead Nugget into a trap. 

Pickup lay flat upon the lowest layer of 


206 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


shelving rock where he could watch the door 
and the several small openings answering as 
windows, for any si^s of inhabitants or pris- 
oners. The only living thing to be seen or 
heard was some nesting pigeons that had their 
home back under the ledge m,aking the roof 
of the house. He had about made up his mind 
to go down and investigate the silent place 
when he caught sight of a red object coming 
around to the passageway from a point farther 
up the hill. He watched it come on till he 
recognized the figure of Ogallalla Sue. Now 
he was sure that he was about to do a priceless 
service to his friend, certainly held there as 
prisoner. He watched her eagerly while en- 
deavoring to decide on what to do. 

He saw that she was coming with a loaf of 
bread and some cheese in one hand, and a jug 
of water in the other. It was the very food 
one would expect to see given to a prisoner. 
She came up close beside the wall and placed 
the food in a window from the side as if she 
were endeavoring not to be seen. After speak- 
ing a few words to the prisoner, she went 
back the way she came. Pickup slipped cau- 
tiously around the rocks to a point where he 
could watch her. 

Half way up the huge hill, and perhaps 
nearly a fourth of the way around, he saw her 
go into a small stone hut in an open space 

207 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


used as a garden. Then she came back and 
seated herself at a point where she could see 
the front of the house below under the ledge. 
He waited but she sat there as if it were to be 
an all day watch. Pickup studied the situa- 
tion. If he had a rope he could get down un- 
der the ledge where it became the roof of the 
house and perhaps crawl in through the nar- 
row space into the upper room and from that 
to the prison place below. As this idea flash- 
ed in on him a grapevine caught his attention 
and his problem was soon solved. 

The woman could not see him from where 
she sat and it was but a few minutes before he 
had the grapevine fastened securely where he 
could safely use it. He crawled over on to the 
upper edge of the wall to a point where he 
found that he could get through into the up- 
per part of the peculiar house. This was 
quickly accomplished. There he discovered 
a storeroom stacked with boxes fllled with 
goods suitable to stock a small variety store. 
In one corner he found ,a trap door which he 
opened after much labor, but from the struc- 
ture of the casing, he could see only a very 
small portion of the room. 

‘‘Who is that up there?” he heard some 
one cautiously ask. The voice was not that of 
Nugget. 


208 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


is that down there?’’ he evasively 

replied. 

am a prisoner,” was the answer in a 
voice that at once dispelled ,any notion of it 
being a man. ''A guide brought me here when 
we became lost together from our company 
and he told me to wait for him here while he 
climbed up above to see where we were. As 
soon as he was gone a woman closed the door 
and locked it. She brought me some food and 
told me that friends would call for me about 
the middle of the afternoon.” 

The speaker still kept back from under the 
trap door, where she could not be seen. 

^^Then we have no time to lose,” Pickup 
responded. ^^The old Indian woman is out 
there on the rocks now watching for someone 
and it is already past the middle of the after- 
noon. You can’t get out anywhere down there. 
I think I can get you out up here.” 

^^You said Indian woman,” the prisoner 
questioned. ‘^Do you know what Indian 
w^oman?” 

^^Ogallalla Sue.” 

^^Then it is Val Hone who is exnected to 
come here, I am sure,” replied the girl, com- 
ing to the ladder steps. ^‘He is my father’s 
worst enemy. This is his trap I am in.” 

She came up to a step where Pickup could 
help her up through the hole in the floor. 


200 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


‘‘It’s Fanny,” he cried. 

“Johnny,” she corrected. 

“No, it’s Paquita,” he replied. “I’ve got 
your pedigree now. I have been chumming 
with your father for three weeks. I was hunt- 
ing him when I came here. Night before last 
the Indian woman led him off on a note that 
said he must follow her to find you. I don’t 
believe they got him.” 

Pickup began to pile boxes up so as to make 
a way for Paquita to climb to the top of the 
wall. But she could climb as well as he could 
and was soon out through the space imder the 
roof and going hand over hand up the grape- 
vine to the top of the ledge over the house. 
Pickup quickly followed. They slipped cau- 
tiously around the rocks, to be safe from the 
eyes of the Indian woman, and carefully 
searched their way around toward the base of 
the bluff into the valley. But their skill was 
very poorly matched with the inherited in- 
stinct sharpening the senses of the child of 
the forest. She caught a glimpse of some- 
thing that stirred her doubts. She ran down 
to the house and looked in at the window. 
Then she unlocked the door and went in. She 
soon ran out, and in looking around discov- 
ered the telltale grapevine. With this discov- 
ery, she knew her glimpse had been that of 
the runaway prisoner. Her prey was not to 


210 


UXCIiE JEREMIAH 


escape her so easily as that. Long expe- 
rienced in swiftly tracking friends and foes, 
she cut through the shortest way and soon 
came in sight of the escaping girl. At the 
same time she saw that the runaway was be- 
ing led hy a boy who was perhaps a score of 
steps ahead of the girl. With wary skill in 
nimbly getting through the rough places, she 
passed down around the fugitive, and as the 
girl came by an opening between two rocks, 
an arm suddenly encircled her and a hand 
went over her mouth before she could utter a 
sound. Then she turned the girl around and 
forced her out of the path and down into the 
thick underbrush. 

Pickup, quite keenly on the alert, soon dis- 
covered that his charge had disappeared as 
if she had dropped into one of the gulches 
cutting in along the sides of the rocky ridges, 
or had fallen over one of the many shelving 
ledges. He retraced his steps with the eye 
of a cat searching for a single move of unnat- 
ural color in the rugged scenes around. He 
did not believe she could be far away and he 
made a circle that would inclose her. He 
knew that Paquita was either struck down 
unconscious or a hand was over her mouth. 
It was the Indian woman, he was sure, for a 
man would have got him first. He narrowed 
his circle and presently caught a glimpse of 


211 


UNCIiE JEREMIAH 


red and white through a thick clump of 
bushes covering a depression under an over- 
hanging rock. Time was precious because 
Val Hone might not be far away and he could 
not hope to save the girl against him. Never- 
theless, he again made the roiuid, this time 
narrowing his circle so that he came within 
a few feet of the captive, yet passing by as if 
he had not seen them. This gave him a 
chance to measure the situation and prepare 
to test his strength with that of the Indian 
woman. 

He crawled around over the rock, and 
when he saw that the woman did not know, 
where he was, he dropped down at her back, 
clutching her throat with both hands. Then 
he flung her back, caught up the half suffo- 
cated girl in his arms and ran with all his 
strength down the mountain side, wherever 
he could And a way to take his burden 
through. The woman was momentarily 
stunned, but with natural quickness she re- 
covered and started again in pursuit. 

Pickup was out of breath by the time Pa- 
quita had recovered hers. As he set her 
down upon her feet, they saw the woman 
coming. Pickup seized a stone in one hand 
and a club in the other to cover the girl’s 
flight as best he could. The woman was rap- 
idly gaini n g on them and he saw that she had 


212 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


also armed herself with a club. The girl, now 
wildly frightened, was making commendable 
speed and the woman did not again re,ach 
them till they had come to the level ground 
at the foot of Pine Cone Hill. 

Pickup did not think of her throwing a 
stone at him and so was not guarding himself 
ag;ainst such an event. But suddenly one 
whizzed forth from her hand with admirable 
aim. It struck the boy a glancing blow in the 
back and brought him breathless to the 
ground. But fortunately it was so much of a 
side stroke that it did no more harm than to 
take his breath. The woman did not give him 
a second look. She was now very sure of re- 
capturing her prize. However, the sight of 
the oncoming enemy gave wings to the girl’s 
feet. Being then on level ground she knew 
how to use her running power to better ad- 
vantage. But her breath was not seasoned 
like that of the Indian. She began to feel 
suffocated. Just ^s her loss of breath was 
about to break her down, a black object 
loomed before her. It was an automobile. 
With a cry of joy she gave the crank a fu- 
rious turn, sprang into the car and pulled the 
lever. She felt the machine respond to her 
touch. But this act was almost too late. The 
woman was climbing over the rear to get at 
her. Suddenly the car gave a lurch and shot 


213 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


forward It went out from under the Indian 
woman. She fell back in a heap upon the 



but it was futile. 

Pickup recovered his wind and arose in 
time to see the exciting episode. He ran on 
after the woman and, coming up behind her, 
gave her a shove that sent her sprawling 
into a clump of bushes. He passed on by. In 
a moment the car swerved around in a circle, 
and as the driver saw that there was no pur- 
suer but Pickup, she stopped the machine. 
He climbed in and took the wheel. 


214 


XVI. 

HUMORIST OR HERO. 

Rig Veda left Merrilee in the House of 
Mystery while he went to secure a represent- 
ative of the law and an automobile ready for 
the relief expedition in search of Paquita. In 
half an hour he returned with a robust assist- 
ant disguised as a chauffeur and they were 
soon away on their adventurous task. In due 
time they ran the machine on to the ferry 
boat and were landed where they could get 
specific directions how to get to Pine Cone 
Hill. 

Rig Veda was hilarious, not only because 
he was verifying his detective abilities as be- 
ing superior to all the police and professional 
bureaus combined, but he was manifesting 
them before the approving eyes of a very 
adorable lady. 

^‘Who says that I don’t do things?” he ex- 
claimed, as they bowled along over the rather 
uneven way toward Pine Cone Hill. ‘‘The 
criminal operates outside the social system, 
and if the detective comes at him through 
something outside his intellectual system, all 
his thought-out defenses go to pieces and he 
does not know how to hide his criminal se- 


215 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


crets. I can rescue tlie defeated and restore 
the lost because I am a detective-philosopher. 
That is why I am inspired and elated with the 
music of social movement, the song of per- 
sonal conduct, and the bounding poetry of 
human schemes.” 

Eig Veda’s abounding enthusiasm began to 
subside somewhat as they progressed along 
the monotonous course of the rough way into 
the foothills to the bluffs, over which arose 
the loaf -like top of Pine Cone Hill. At last 
the machine was driven as far up into the 
bluff as it could be taken and then it was 
turned about for ready use in case of emer- 
gency. Eig Veda gave directions to the dis- 
guised chauffeur, and then went with Merri- 
lee up through the rocky way to the foot of 
Pine Cone Hill above them. When they were 
near the top, they looked down around the 
edge where they could see a log hut in a small 
open space that was like a garden spot among 
the broken ledges. It was a tortuous way 
through which to pick Safe steps among the 
huge rocks on around to the plot of level 
ground containing the hut, but presently they 
came out among the overhanging rocks and 
hurried across to the open door. 

A glance showed that the house had been 
recently occupied and unexpectedly, if not 
hastily, deserted. An Indian shawl lay across 


216 


UNQLE JEREMIAH 


a bench. A loaf of bread and some cheese 
that had been cut not more than half an hour 
before were fresh upon a table under a row 
of small single pane holes cut to serve as win- 
dows. Rig Veda searched the place with the 
eye of a trained specialist. He found a girl’s 
handkerchief lying in a crack in the wall and 
then a note at the end of a bench near the 
door. The note was significant. It illuminat- 
ed the whole story. He read it aloud: 

mind-reader is coming to read the girl’s 
soul as it refiects the father’s mind, and find 
where the gold mine is. Write down the de- 
scription of the place for me. If you are sure 
I can find it from the description, let them all 
go away together. If not, by all means keep 
the girl. If you see any trick on us be sure 
to trap the clairvoyant, if you can, till I come. 
Watch out so she can’t escape or be taken 
away from you.” 

Rig Veda was no longer perplexed. 

^‘She has either escaped or she has been 
rescued,” he asserted confidently. ‘‘Wait 
here till I scout around a little. The police- 
man was to stay on top of the hill ready for 
anything. He may have seen something. I’ll 
be gone only a few minutes and not lose sight 
of the place.” 

Merrilee was very tired from much climb- 
ing and she seated herseK upon the table 

217 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


where she could look Out through the little 
square window. She had been there only a 
few minutes when a shadow or a rustle un- 
der the window somewhat alarmed her. She 
jumped from the table to the floor, intending 
to go outside. But before she reached the 
door it was slammed shut and she heard the 
padlock snap that was used to secure the door 
from the outside. Before comprehending 
fully what had happened, but in the midst of 
rapidly rising fear, she heard someone chuck- 
ling as in a sudden access of great satisfac- 
tion. 

‘‘Hoi Ho!” she heard at one of the open 
chinks in the wall where someone was staring 
at her. “It is a beautiful bird I have captured 
in my cage. She will sing me sweet songs by 
and by.” 

Merrilee was panic-stricken. This was the 
first time danger had ever come to her. But 
she had hardly time to reach any crisis of fear 
when she heard the challenging voice of Eig 
Veda. He demanded that the door be opened. 
For answer there was only an exclamation of 
anger and the succeeding sound of blows and 
a struggle. She found a thin slit between the 
logs where she could look out and see Eig 
Veda in desperate combat with a burly fel- 
low who charged like a wild bull upon his 
more nimble antagonist. It flashed through 


218 


UNCLE JEJREMIAH 


her mind that such a frail f3;ame as that of her 
defender must lose before the enduring on- 
slaught of such a muscular enemy, unless he 
had help. She could scream, but before the 
policeman on the hill would be able to locate 
her voice and get down through that rugged 
pathway of rocks it would be too late. Surely 
Rig Veda would have called for help if that 
were of any use. The next idea was to throw 
her own strength into the scale. But she was 
locked in. Small difficulties like that were 
not to stop her from doing her part in the bat- 
tle for liberty. She looked about her for some 
means to smash the lock on the door. The 
bench caught her eye. It was not too heavy 
for her to use. She raised it like a battering 
ram and ran with desperate strength against 
the door at the point where the lock held it. 
To her surprise the door fiew open, the bench 
went on through and fell mightily upon the 
foot of her captor. Involimtarily, she fol- 
lowed the bench and landed in a heap at the 
feet of Rig Veda. 

The two fierce warriors were as much sur- 
prised and disconcerted as she was. They 
evidently supposed her to be safe inside. Her 
fighting qualities had not been taken into con- 
sideration. The enemy rubbed his foot and 
howled out some sidesplitting protest. Rig 
Veda, forgetting the deadly struggle, gallant- 


219 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


ly lifted the prostrate woman to her feet. 
Then the antagonists seemed to remember 
their job and they went at it again. The battle 
was as fierce as they knew how to put up, 
though neither one seemed to receive any very 
serious wounds. 

Merrilee regathered her war spirit that 
had fied at her entrance into the arena of 
gladiators. She must fulfill her intention to 
help. The death grapple was on. The war- 



riors were now upon the earth rolling over 
each other and fiinging each other about with 
little regard to the scientific rules of the 
game. Of course the larger man would wiu 


220 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


in such a test of physical endurance if she did 
not help. She seized ^ short stick that hap- 
pened to be convenient and watched her 
chance. She made several passes and barely 
missed giving a knockout blow on the head 
of the hero instead of on that of the villain. 

But at last she landed a swift one square 
on the head of the enemy. The fellow let 
loose the advantage he had of his opponent 
and sprang to his feet, angrily facing the bel- 
ligerent amazon. 

‘^What fell did ye do that ferf ’ he yelled, 
rubbing his head. ‘‘That hurt.’’ 

Big Veda was up and at him . 

“No, you don’t,” exclaimed the unwilling 
villain. “Two on one’s nigger’s fun, as we 
used to say. The contijact didn’t say any- 
thing about fighting a woman. I throw up 
the job.” 

“I’ve got him licked,” explained Big Veda, 
as if an explanation would clear up the situ- 
ation. “Let’s go hunt up the policeman and 
get back to town. There’s nothing more do- 
ing out here.” 

“Not by a dam sight, I ain’t licked,” re- 
sponded the late fighting man, rubbing his 
scalp in rising wrath, as the bump there 
grew larger. “I’ve a good notion to arrest 
you for conspiracy to get the hero worship of 
an innocent woman. I think a case like that 


221 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


gets something like ten years in the pen. 
Anyhow, I^m going to explain.’’ 

‘^You see, lady,” he said, turning to the 
mystified young woman, ^‘I’m the policeman 
disguised as a chaufieur. When this hero- 
poet found that the captive girl W:as gone and 
the hero work had all oozed out he came back 
and hired me to play villain, so he could 
knock me out and rescue you and be a hero 
to you anyhow. I wouldn’t have that bump 
on my head just alone for his ten dollars and 
I wouldn’t have jany more for a hundred dol- 
lars apiece. That’s why I throw up the job.” 

‘‘You see,” explained Eig Veda, in order 
to put a better look on the bad appearances, 
“the whole thing was very cleverly planned, 
but I hadn’t foreseen about you breaking 
through and putting knots on his head. You 
remember I told you that I was bound to be a 
hero even if I had to frame up a case. I ad- 
mit that concussions of the scalp were not 
bargained for in this joke, and he has the 
right to complain. It merely emphasizes the 
fact that there is such a thing as incalculable 
chance operating in the affairs of men, espe- 
cially when the eternal triangle is concerned. 
You can see that I am also a humorist, and I 
am not so sure but what it is more important 
to be a humorist than a hero. All questions 
of preference are mere attitudes of mind any- 


222 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


way. I am glad to find that I have an unex- 
pected attitude of mind. I am a humorist. I 
acknowledge that the joke is on me. Now 
that we have all enjoyed ourselves over a bit 
of humorous acting, and it is mearing dark, 
let us find our way to the automobile. The 
frame-up has gone busted. Ill have to try 
some other scheme to be a hero to my lady 
friend.” 

Bewildered in such a transition from trag- 
edy to humor, as if it had been regularly 
staged for her entertainment, Merrilee al- 
lowed Eig Veda to help her back over the 
rocks to the foot of Pine Cone Bluff. That 
the way was walked through in silence was 
attributable to the difficult task of getting 
over the rocks, not to the undignified end of 
their heroic rescue- journey. 

The chauffeur was leading the way in sim- 
ilar silence. Suddenly he raised a note of 
alarm. 

‘^Where’s that automobile?” he exclaimed. 
^‘Here is the spot where we left it.” 

^^Look!” he cried again, as he studied the 
tracks. ^‘Look how it jiggled. There wasn’t 
a firm hand on the steering wheel.” 

A few steps farther on he picked up a 
thick red neckerchief. 

‘^This looks like Indian stuff,” he com- 
mented. 


223 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


But whatever had happened the automo- 
bile was gone, and it was nearly night. The 
situation was serious. 



With a heavy grouch for the outcome of his 
day’s work, the chauffeur stalked away on 
the track of the vanished automobile, and the 
two castaways took up seriously the problem 
confronting them. As it was almost out of 
the question for them to tramp three or four 


224 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


miles through the woods to the nearest sta- 
tion, the glimpse of a farm house on an eleva- 
tion they could see over the scattering trees 
was a welcome suggestion. The forlorn vic- 
tims of the recent fiasco of adventure went to 
ask for the hospitality of the nearest shelter. 

The farmer welcomed them to his table. 
There was room only for the young woman 
in the house that night, but if the gentleman 
desired he could sleep in the hayloft. Rig 
I Veda welcomed that accommodation as a lux- 
iUry under the circumstances, 
f Considerable light was thrown on the day’s 
work when the farmer’s wife told them it was 
not often she could count three strangers at 
her house in one day. That morning she had 
given breakfast to a boy who said his name 
was Pickup. 

This was good news to the defe;ated res- 
cuers. They now believed that Paquita had 
been found and taken away by Pickup. 


XVII. 

THE FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR. 

Uncle Jeremiah had the looks of being ap- 
proachable. A uniform upon him as the 
guardian of public peace would probably not 
have added ,any to his appearance as a trust- 
.worthy source of appeal for both sympathy 
and help. He did not have the worried look 
of one waiting for a train out of a war zone. 
In consequence, he was frequently called 
upon to function as an infonnation bureau. 
He supposed that some small favor of this 
kind was sought from him when a somewhat 
undersized youth, typical of those in the city 
who live by their wits on small gains, touched 
him on the arm in the corridor of the hotel 
and asked to see him aside for a moment. 

^^Tou live in this hotel, don’t you^” he 
asked in a very confidential if not patroniz- 
ing attitude. 

Uncle Jeremiah responded with a feeling 
of enough suspicion to make sure that his 
pocketbook was still resting safely in his in- 
side pocket. 

am a special detective,” he began with 
an exceedingly knowing air. have a very 
peculiar case in this hotel. My client wants 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


to get onto the samples in room 614. IVe 
been np aroimd the room and put in a few 
feelers to the clerks, but if I get my money 
for the job IVe got to load up on facts some 
other way.” 



Uncle Jeremiah felt a sudden desire to be 
foxy. 

“Is it important?” he asked. “What’s in 

it for us?” 1 • j 

“Important? I should guess!” exclaimed 
the boy. “There’s ten in it for me. I have 
already earned ten today by playing guide 

227 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


for a buncli of college girls in tlie woods. My 
boss was a good friend to one of them. He 
got me to lose her for a joke. I left her wait- 
ing for me at a house in the bluffs while I 
hunted for her friends. He had to be here in 
the city, but friends of his living near by were 
waiting to find her. That makes the biggest 
money I ever earned in one day, and if I get 
this information for him it will be the biggest 
I ever got in a week.’’ 

Suddenly the young man discovered that 
he was talking too much, and he twisted 
around trying to tell the rest with his face 
without saying any more. The explanations 
sounded to the old man as if they meant more 
than was said, but he could not piece enough 
of the fragments together to get anything 
definite. 

^^What is it your employer wants to 
know?” asked Uncle Jeremiah. 

The boy who had thus far failed to get any 
facts that would secure the promised reward 
became confidential again. 

^‘He wants to know who is in room 614 and 
if there is a rich woman there, or if it is some 
detective layout to trap him.” 

As that was the number of the suite occu- 
pied by Merrilee and Molly, Uncle Jeremiah 
came to the conclusion that an officer could 


228 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


get a better understanding of the case than 
he could. 

^‘You stay here,” he said to the informa- 
tion seeker, ‘‘and I’ll get all you want to 
know from the manager.” 

Uncle J eremiah saw the manager at one of 
the desks in the office and went up to him. 

“Call your house detective,” he said to the 
manager, “and have him take the young man 
I am talking to down to the police station, 
where he can be questioned about two very 
suspicious transactions he has been engaged 
in today.” 

Uncle Jeremiah went back to the young 
man. “I have found out all about it,” he be- 
gan, as he saw the officer coming around be- 
hind them. “My family lives in that room 
and I’m going to find what your boss wants 
with them'.” 

The boy was paralyzed as the officer’s 
hand catne down on his shoulder at the last 
words of the old man. Uncle Jeremiah sug- 
gested that the young fellow should telephone 
or send a note to his boss to come and clear 
up the arrest, but the young detective said 
his boss would know it anyway as he was 
waiting somewhere outside. He did not know 
his employer’s name. All he knew was that 
he had heard an Indian woman call him Val. 

There was no excitement and few even 


229 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


among those in the corridor knew that an ar- 
rest had been made. However, there was one 
guest who was restlessly on the alert. She 
had seen the young man talking to IJncle 
Jeremiah and had got close enough to hear 
that someone wanted to know about room 
614. She suspected that it was another at- 
tempt to answer her note. She also heard 
that an Indian woman had called him Val. 
What a beautiful name! So short and sweet! 
How lovely to be called Molly Val. How 
nobly though blindly the splendid man was 
searching for her in burning unrest. She 
must help on the call of Providence in his 
soul. She must help hasten the happy moves 
of Fate. 

When the police patrol wagon received the 
would-be detective into its well concealed in- 
terior and drove away to the station, Molly 
was hastening along in the rear, desperately 
endeavoring to keep it in sight. She wanted 
to be sure that if Mr. Val was anywhere along 
the vvay he would see her and then all ex- 
planations could be made concerning room 
614, and the note she had sent him. 

When she arrived at the station she wus 
told by an obliging policeman that the young 
man had been locked up for a hearing the 
next day and his accusers were gone. 

Next to the police station was the fire de- 


230 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


partment and the array of uniforms was al- 
most ^as alluring as if they were broadbrims 
with corresponding chances of pleated shirts 
and low wool socks. Across the road was a 
small park lined with benches for the weary, 
and being both weary and curious, she took a 
seat opposite the two wide open doorways of 
uniformed men. She watched them bring in 
some prisoners and pass them back to the jail 
through the alley. There was an exercise 
drill of one of the fire engines, which added 
to her moving-picture entertainment. A 
struggling woman taken back through the al- 
ley interested her so much that she crossed 
the street and stood on the sidewalk facing 
the pathetic scene. 

As the crowd dispersed and she turned to 
go back to her point of observation an auto- 
mobile came spinning up along the sidewalk 
directly before her. It contained ,a boy and 
a girl. They had stopped to inquire of a po- 
liceman the way to the Green Tree Hotel. 
Molly recognized them both at once and they 
joyfully recognized her. 

‘^IJncle Jeremiah is dead anxious to see 
you and this little girl,’’ she said enthusias- 
tically. ^‘He wants all of us to be on the look- 
out for you and here I’ve found you. My! 
how lucky. Merrilee is now gone away with 
Rig Veda hunting for this very girl. My! 

231 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


how lucky I found you. Uncle Jeremiah and 
Merrilee will be dreadful glad. Oh, mef How 
lucky.” 

Molly was in such an ecstasy of victor}^ 
that she forgot all about Mr. Val and the 
benevolence of Fate. Pickup was especially 
well pleased. He could confidently and safe- 
ly leave Paquita with this friend. 

<«IVe got to get this automobile back to 
Pine Cone Hill before it is too dark for me to 
see the way,” he explained. don’t want 
to go to the penitentiary on the charge of be- 
ing an automobile thief.” 

^^But you didn’t steal it,” expostulated Pa- 
quita. stole it and picked you up to save 
you from a woman. Watch out that she don’t 
get you when you go back.” 

He felt no ^larm. Waving adieu with the 
satisfied look of one saying ‘‘Leave that to 
me,” he climbed back into the machine and 
disappeared around the corner to make his 
way back to Pine Cone Hill. 

Molly and Paquita were immediately con- 
fidential as reunited friends. The little girl 
had passed through such experiences that the 
smiling face of a friendly woman looked 
beautiful and faithful as paradise. 

“I meant to go last night to the campfire 
girls,” Paquita explained, “but one of my 
University friends persuaded me to stay with 


232 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


her last night and they would take me to the 
campfire this morning. Then I got into trou- 
ble. The guide who was to take us there let 
the others get lost from us.’’ 

But Paquita noticed that Molly was not 
hearing anything she said. 

^^Wait here for me two or three minutes,” 
Molly exclaimed, quite breathless with the 
mtensity of her interest in some one who had 
just gone, among a number of others, into the 
alleyway to the rear of the station. want 
to speak to a friend who has just gone in to 
find out about a poor fellow who has been ar- 
rested, all on my account. I’ll be right back.” 

Paquita, now feeling secure, and being con- 
fident that she was safe among friends, kept 
her seat and became interested in the crowds. 

Molly went down the , alley between the sta- 
tion and the fire department, where she dis- 
covered her man. He was getting informa- 
tion about the arrest of his amateurish de- 
tective. As he wore a chauffeur’s cap and 
goggles she was not sure of him at first. When 
the man whom he had hired to go and make 
inquiries for him concerning his blundering 
detective had gone inside, Molly came up to 
the object of her interest and secured his at- 
tention. 

‘^Mr. Val,” she began, am the one who 
wrote you the note and I have been wanting 


233 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


to see you so I could explain and soliloquize 
about the trouble I caused you at the Fair 
grounds. As it is getting dark, if you will 
walk with me back to the benches where our 
little girl is I’ll explain and then hurry back 
with her to the hotel. She has been lost and 
Uncle Jeremiah has been anxious about her.” 

Molly had been drawing the wondering 
man back with her toward the street. He 
was, however, at the same time closely watch- 
ing for other surprises, and among them he 
was nourishing a vacillating suspicion that 
this ardent woman was a tr^ap set by his en- 
emy. 

As he came to the opening at the end of 
the alley he caught sight of Paquita on the 
end of the bench. It was the first he knew 
of her escape. Or did it show the success 
promised him by the clairvoyant? He could 
not have any idea which to believe. 

An important thought struck him. 

‘‘I’m very busy now,” he explained, ‘^but 
I want to talk with you. That is my automo- 
bile exactly in front of the girl. Both of you 
get in there and as soon as I am through here 
in a few minutes with my business, I’ll take 
you both to the hotel.” 

‘‘At last! At last!” she exclaimed fervently 
to herself, as she swiftly obeyed and was soon 


234 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


seated with Paquita in the carriage waiting 
for the beloved Mr. V^l. 

Hardly were they through congratulating 
themselves on being soon taken to the hotel 
when Mr. Val came running out of the alley- 
way with his cap pulled down tight over his 
head, Ms eyes goggled, and at considerably 
more speed than dignity. He sprang to the 
wheel in the machine and put bn the power 
as rapidly as it could be done. Two police- 
men came into view , after him with similar 
speed, just as the machine lurched forward 
from the curb. He gathered all the speed al- 
lowed him by the hills he had to climb and the 
law he had to avoid. 

Molly tried to talk to him by leaning for- 
ward over the back of his seat. 

^^Oh, Mr. Val,’’ she exclaimed, ^‘how true 
and beautiful it is that destiny can never es- 
cape Fate and that the clairvoyants can tell 
us the ways of friendly providence. We now 
know that the angels have introduced us and 
our future is made in heaven.” 

But Val Hone seemed to be more intent 
upon getting to a decided-upon destination 
than to engage hi« mind on any supposed 
case of the gods. 

At last he condescended. 

‘‘You don’t mind,” said he, with tears in 
his voice, ^4f I go out of the way to call on 


235 


UNCIiE JEREMIAH 


my sick sister. It will only take us a few 
minutes, and I should have been there this 
morning.’’ 

Of course they did not mind. Molly be- 
came very sympathetic. How very consid- 
erate and lovable he was! What sweet sjm- 
pathy for a suffering sister. Admiration 
beat higher with every heart throb! 

But the sister evidently lived in a very 
dark and dreary part of the town. She lived 
in a house where no lights were to be seen. 
Nevertheless, Molly soulfully trusted Mr. 
Val and Paquita supposed all was well with 
Molly. Mr. Val asked them to run up with 
him a few minutes and meet his sister. They 
of course could not refuse to go to the bed- 
side of their accommodjating friend’s sick sis- 
ter. It was up a long, dark stairway, and 
then up another; but Mr. Val kept matches 
lighted till they got to the top, where he un- 
locked the door and bid them go inside. He 
came in and closed the door. Unobserved by 
them he turned the key in the lock, and then 
transferred it to his pocket. With another 
match he lighted the lamp on a small table 
and then he turned on them. 

Paquita recognized him as he drew off his 
goggles. She did not allow the slightest sign 
of surprise to be seen by him. She knew 


236 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


somehow that Molly’s confidence had been 
used to entrap them. 

He sat back on the table by the lamp and 
Molly sat down on the side of the bed, strug- 
gling with some vague alarm. 

^^Who put you on my trail?” asked the 
man of destiny, so sharply that for the first 
time his voice did not soimd good to her. 
^^And what do you think you are doing to 
me? Put it straight. I’ve got to know.” 

Where is your sister?” asked Molly, 
evasively, as if she were grasping for 
a chance to get back to the line of faith she 
had while coming up the stairs. 

‘‘My sister!” he laughed, as if he had for- 
gotten it. “I must say you are dead easy for 
a detective. Evidently she is dead and bur- 
ied.” 

“We must be going,” said Molly, rising 
quickly and running to the door. 

She turned the knob and realized that the 
door was locked. She commenced jerking the 
door with all her might, but Mr. Yal inter- 
fered and pushed her back upon the bed. 

“I’ll send Ogallalla Sue here to take care 
of you two till I’m ready to let you out, and 
if mther one of you makes any attempt to 
escape we’ll send your body to a place where 
it can be dissected for the good of humanity.” 

He opened the door and went out. They 

237 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


heard him lock it and then go down the stairs. 

Paquita got a heavy chair and shoved the 
back np under the lock. 



‘‘There, now,’’ she exclaimed, quite satis- 
fied, “there won’t be anybody come in through 
that door till we get ready to let them. Let’s 
go to bed and have a good night’s rest. I’m 
sleepy.” 


238 



XVIII. 

THE INDIAN WOMAN^S TRAP. 

Pickup found that it was getting quite 
dark when he approached the place where he 
had made his escape with Paquita in the au- 
tomobile. As he had a vague intuition of 
trouble in that vicinity, perhaps then lying 
in w;ait somewhere among the silent bushes 
and sullen rocks, he drove warily up to a 
position where the machine might be easily 
seen by its owner. Disgusted with himself 
for having such a feeling of fear when there 
was nothing in sight to suggest any danger, 
he arose to leap out over the side of the car. 
As he did so there was a rustle in the bushes 
behind him. The uncertain sound unnerved 
him and bewildered his action. As he struck 
the ground a noose settled over his shoulders, 
well thrown by a practiced hand. He was 
jerked backward and Ogallalla Sue fastened 
the cord so that his hands were helpless. 
Then she motioned him to get up and gave a 
jerk on the rope indicating that he was to fol- 
low her. She led him on up to the place from 
which he had rescued Paquita, shoved him 
inside, took off the rope locked him in. 

The next morning she brought him food 


239 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


and water which she pushed in through one 
of the little square windows. His wits 
seemed to work better after this refreshment 
and he busied himself with the problem of 



escape. The friendly grapevine which he 
had used to get Paquita out from under the 
mde shelf roof was still dangling from the 
tree to which he had fastened it, but it swimg 
over the shelving ledge far out of reach. He 
crawled out under the roof, but it was more 


240 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


than thirty feet to the ground, which was 
well covered with jagged rocks. A long, 
slender strip of hickory that had been nailed 
around a box offered a suggestion. He would 
tie his handkerchief on the end of it and wave 
it out from under the ledge as a signal of dis- 



tress, such as is used by castaways on desert 
islands. Some one might see it. In another 
minute it was waving to the breeze. 

And some one did see it. Down at the foot 
of the rocky way among the big trees a man 
of slender build, somewhat pale from recent 
illness, and weak from over-exertion, was 


241 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


making an examination of the rocky bluffs 
around Pine Cone Hill. Somewhere in the 
forest leading that way, he had lost the trail 
of an enemy who had crossed his path the 
evening before. He had seen his enemy go- 
ing, with suspicious efforts to conceal him- 
self, on board a late ferryboat, and had fol- 
lowed him to the foot of the bluffs and there 
lost him. He feared that the man held pris- 
oner the most precious possession he had in 
the world, his little daughter Paquita. The 
unnatural flutter of white caught his alert 
attention. Two or three white birds, prob- 
ably pigeons, were seen flying about, but this 
was not one of them. He watched it until he 
became sure that it was a call for help. With 
the training of a man bom to the skill of the 
mountains and plains, he made his way closer 
to the object of his suspicions, until he came 
up alongside the rocks within a few feet of 
the door. The white handkerchief was being 
waved from an unseen hand, up under the 
roof, almost over his head. He picked up a 
bit of stone and threw it with practiced pre- 
cision so that it struck the ledge, where the 
wall was built up to it, ^nd bounded inside. 
Pickup was astonished as he took up this 
wordless messenger and studied it. Certain- 
ly no enemy could have attracted his atten- 
tion that way. He had no paper on which to 


242 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


write a reply, but be bad tbe stub of a pencil. 
In large letters on tbe stone be wrote tbe one 
word ^^Help,’’ and tossed it out as it bad 
come. 

Nugget picked up tbe stone wbicb fell near 
bim and saw tbe word. He studied tbe situa- 
tion. He could see no way to belp but to 
break down tbe door. That would be a slow 
and difficult task. He scouted around about 
tbe place for half an bour. There were no 
signs of anyone near unless it was at tbe lit- 
tle but in an open spot up in tbe side of Pine 
Cone HiU. 

He came back and tried tbe door, but with 
tbe rude instrument at band that method was 
not practical without help from within. But 
bis efforts at tbe door bad been beard. Pres- 
ently a voice called from within. 

‘‘If you are a friend to belp one in distress 
go and push tbe grapevine under tbe edge of 
tbe roof next to the wall. I can get out that 
way.’’ 

Nugget looked up at tbe edge and saw tbe 
vine. He understood and hastened around 
at once where be could climb up to the rocky 
shelf. He came over to tbe vine and lay down 
flat so that be could reach out and swing it 
across to a point where he could now see an 
arm reaching forward to grasp it. 

He bad just taken bold to make bis first 


243 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


effort when a heavy weight crashed down 
upon the small of his back. It was the knee 
of a man. His two wrists were caught and 
drawn back, where they could be crossed and 
tied. Then he was brought to his feet facing 
Val Hone. 



‘‘Everything is coming my way at last,” 
exulted the captor, shoving his captive down 
around the rocks to the door of the peculiar 
prison. “You are going in here to stay with- 


244 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


out food or drink until you give me a map 
showing where your mine of nuggets is. Then 
you will get half rations till I find the mine. 
Then you will be let go free. When I have 
all I can get of the stuff I’ll give you direc- 
tions where you can find Paquita. If I don’t 
find the mine I’ll order this place set on fire, 
and I’ll take Paquita with me to Mexico.” 

Nugget was shoved inside. The door was 
then closed on him, securely barred and 
chained fast. 

‘‘Think it over. I’ll be back here about 
the middle of the afternoon to see if you are 
ready for business,” was the parting advice 
spoken through the closed door. 

Pickup came down through the trap door 
and the two friends recognized each other, 
brought together in that singular way in that 
unforeseen peril. They talked it over. The 
strain and suspense were too much for the 
sick man and he began to feel dizzy and ill. 

“You have been a wonderful friend to me,” 
he said to Pickup with a tinge of hopefulness 
in his voice. “Without expectation of re- 
ward and without any solicitation but that 
of one needing help, you have cared for me 
as if I were bound to you by the closest ties 
of obligation. I never experienced such a 
thing before. Something may happen to me 
by violence or illness, so I’m going to make 

245 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


you an equal partner with me in the mine, 
and trust that you will see to it that Paquita 
gets my half.’’ 

Pickup was silent, not knowing what to 
reply, and Nugget proceeded to give him a 
detailed description how to find it. 

Nugget grew rapidly more feverish and 
Pickup took him to the upper floor, where he 
could make him more comfortable upon a bed 
of boxes. 

Then Pickup tried again to use his sig- 
nal of distress, but the handkerchief had not 
been waved back and forth more than a dozen 
times when a hand reached quickly down 
over the ledge and jerked the white flag 
from the stick. 

An hour or so later. Pickup heard the voice 
of Val Hone calliug at the door. He went 
down to the ground floor to answer the sum- 
mons. 

‘‘Have you come to your senses about that 
mine?” inquired the enemy. 

“Yes,” replied Pickup. “Nugget is up- 
stairs sick and asleep. He has told me ex- 
actly how to find the mine. You can now deal 
with me about it. I’m ready for business, but 
first I’ve got to have water for Nugget. He’s 
feverish. You may as well bring food with 
it. I won’t draw a line till I get water.” 

Val Hone stood a moment without reply, as 


246 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


if studying whether to require unconditional 
surrender to his demands, then thinking that 
the easier way might be the quickest, he mut- 
tered his disgust and left. Pickup did not 
know whether this meant compliance or mer- 
ciless abandonment. He was greatly relieved 
from the depressing suspense when some one 
arrived and shoved a jug of water into one 
of the window holes, and followed it with a 
loaf of bread and a Imnp of cheese. 

He took the water up to Nugget and satis- 
fied the feverish thirst. Then he came back 
to his negotiation with Val Hone. 

have a pencil but no paper,’’ he said to 
his captor. 

Val Hone shoved in a half sheet of letter 
paper. 

‘‘This is not large enough,” the boy as- 
serted. 

Val Hone shoved in an entire sheet, one 
side of which had writing upon it. 

“I’ll have it ready inside of ten minutes,” 
was the response. 

Presently the work was done. A large 
piece of greasy white wrapping paper was 
shoved through the window and eagerly 
grasped by the man outside. 

“The miap is so big I had to use the wrap- 
ping paper that was on the loaf of bread,” 
was the explanation. 


247 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 

There it was, an elaborate map with de- 
tailed description below. Val Hone was hi- 
larious as well as vindictive. 

know men that know that country like 
a book,’’ he explained, ‘‘and if the mine can’t 
be found by the description I’ll be back here 
by tomorrow night and set this place on fire. 
You won’t have the chance of rats on a ship 
ripped open by an iceberg.” 

Val Hone left and Pickup hurried back up 
to the loft. Nugget was sleeping soundly. 
The boy began making a pyramid of boxes 
against the inside wall. When this was done 
he climbed up to the top of the wall under the 
eaves of the ledge where he could hear the 
cooing, clucking sounds of pigeons hovering 
about their nests. They were quite tame as 
if they could not conceive of any danger in 
that safe retreat. By stirring them around 
vdth a stick as they fiew in and out he was 
able to make them come quite near to him. 
Presently he succeeded in catching two of 
them. On the two pieces of letter paper he 
wrote in large letters: “Pickup and Nugget 
are prisoners in the house in Pine Cone Bluff, 
in danger of death. Help! Help! See Uncle 
Jeremiah, Green Tree Hotel.” He tied the 
papers around the feet of the pigeons so they 
could not stand, and then he tied a string 
about their wings, so that the wings were 

248 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


held half open. Taking them both to the top 
of the wall near the outer edge of the over- 
hanging ledge, he threw them out as far as 
he could towards the woods away from the 
bluff in the direction of the city. To his grat- 
ification he saw them fly straight in the direc- 
tion he had thrown them. One tried to alight 
on a tree, but failing to do so flew on. 

He came back by his sleeping companion, 
having done all he knew to do. It was taking 
a frightful chance, but he had taken it a^id 
there was nothing more left but to await the 
issue. 


249 


XIX. 

THE BLACK HAND LOVE MESSAGE. 


Uncle Jeremiah became more and more 
alarmed as the night came on with no ex- 
planation of the absence of either Molly or 
Merrilee. By ten o’clock the suspense be- 
came intolerable. He called up Frank Mulford 
and told him of the unexplainable situation. 
Mulford came over to the Green Tree Hotel 
for a conference. He called up several of the 
companies engaged in hiring out automobiles. 
One was found that had let out a machine to 
Eig Veda to go to Pine Cone Hill and he had 
not returned. 

Nothing more could be done that night, but 
at the arrival of clear daylight Mulford was 
driving a machine at the speed limit toward 
the indefinite object knovm as Pine Cone 
Hill. By an hour after sun-up he had ex- 
plored the way quite well aroimd the foot- 
hills, when he struck the trail of an automo- 
bile leading up into the underbrush covering 
the rise into the bluffs. He stopped his ma- 
chine and followed the trail, which presently 
showed three tracks. Up in the bushes he 
found the car. It was in good order. This 
looked indeed alarming. To be sure, his eye 

25 (, 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


was unpracticed in the lore of trails or he 
might have seen much more. As it was, he 
could see nothing in the region around that 
had any promise of information unless it was 
a farmhouse to be seen on a distant hilltop. 
He went back to his machine and drove on 
toward the house. Arriving there, he soon 
felt that he had been well paid for his visit. 
The passengers of the abandoned car had 
been there all night and the guests had de- 
parted not more than half an hour before. 
The farmer’s wife told him all she knew and 
he started off in hot haste after the pedes- 
trians, who alone would be able to explain 
the mysterious abandonment of the automo- 
bile. 

In a few minutes he came in sight of two 
figures trudging along toward the station, 
as if they were in some weary retreat from a 
disastrous defeat. They were indeed two 
rather dilapidated and lugubrious looking . 
objects, as they turned on hearing the auto- 
mobile behind them. Merrilee at once recog- 
nized Mulford. With an irrepressible shout 
of relief from the tension of the recent expe- 
riences she hailed his approach. 

Meanwhile, Mulford was mentally estimat- 
ing Eig Veda. 

The resulting conviction was one not calcu- 
lated to cement any ties of friendship. 


251 


UNCLE JEREMIAH . 


are you not going to your automo- 
bile?’’ inquired Mulford. 

‘‘For all we know,” replied Rig Veda, “we 
are doing so. It was gone when we went to it 
last evening. So we took the chance of find- 
ing it straying around somewhere on our way 
to the. station.” 



“It has come hack,” replied Mulford. 
“You will find it where you left it.” 

“Will you go back with me?” Mulford in- 


252 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


quired of Merrilee, will you complete 
your journey with this man?’’ 

‘‘To be sure,” replied Rig Veda for her, 
“your car* is ready. Mine has deceived us 
once. It may do so again. I believe in the re- 
liable. We are compelled to guess at life as 
it comes, but we can make it sure as it goes. 
As long as any difficulty or doubt survives 
there is in a thing neither reality nor success. 
I believe what you say, but I don’t trust the 
machine.” 

He helped Merrilee into the car, turned 
with a gesture of farewell and strode away 
toward the distant automobile that was said 
to have returned from its mysterious night’s 
work. 

When Merrilee reached the Green Tree 
Hotel she found Uncle Jeremiah worrying 
the police officers over the phone and stirring 
up the detective bureau with well peppered 
sarcasm. 

The most that could be promised anywhere 
was a kind of dragnet search, because no one 
appeared to be able to get any clues by which 
to arrive anywhere outside the labyrinth of 
events. 

Uncle Jeremiah, however, found a new 
idea. It buzzed like a bee in his ear. He had 
seen something of the devotion and efficiency 
of the boy scouts. The campfire girls seemed 

253 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


to be under a similar trainmg for alertness 
and efficiency. Wby not enlist both organ- 
izations in a search for Pickup and Paquita? 
Success is not to be assured through any neg- 
lect of the means. Mulford and Merrilee 
liked the idea. It was forthwith put into exe- 
cution. The addresses of all the members of 
both organizations in the city and suburbs 
were soon supplied with a descriptive circu- 
lar offering a large reward by TJncle Jere- 
miah of the Green Tree Hotel to any camp, 
and to any boy or girl, who would supply any 
information leading to the discovery of the 
campfire girl Paquita and the boy scout 
known as Pickup. The letter-circular con- 
tained Paquita ’s picture, so that any one see- 
ing her, after looking at the picture, could 
hardly miss recognizing her as the one 
wanted. 

About the time Uncle Jeremiah was devel- 
oping his plan of enlisting the boy scouts and 
campfire girls in the interest of their two im- 
periled fellows, a janitor in a tenement house 
adjoining one of the inferior districts discov- 
ered a curious object wriggling about on a 
fire escape in the alleyway across the block. 
It seemed unable either to get up or down or 
to stay where it was in any coi^ort. As he 
looked, he imagined he could hear faint yells 
issuing from the struggling bit of animated 


254 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


color. As the dilapidated old framework of 
a fire escape had long since failed to be in any 
condition for service, he decided that a fellow 
human being of the feminine sex on that 
broken stairway had certainly fallen into a 
condition of exceptional difficulty, undoubt- 
edly needing attention. With much of a 
grouch at the fool women who caused men so 
much annoyance by not knowing anything, 
he plodded his way over to the seat of trouble. 
Locating the distress as being just above the 
second window, he went into that part of the 
building, pried open the rusty sash and in- 
quired into the cause of the unusual display. 

It was a scared and weeping woman he 
found. She had been locked up all night in 
a room on the top story with a little girl. 
They had put the back of a chair under the 
lock so the wicked man couldn’t get back in 
to them, but that morning he had come and 
burst the door in. The little girl had broken 
out the window sash and climbed up the iron 
ladder onto the roof. She herself couldn’t do 
that act, so she tried to get down the fire es- 
cape away from the angry man. As he was 
not interested in her, but wanted to take the 
other captive away with him, he had climbed 
up on the roof after the escaping girl, but had 
not come back, and that was two or three 
hours before. 


255 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Molly was duly repentant. The first 
thought of the gypsy’s prophecy m^de her 
feel faint and the first sight of a broadbrim 
made her sick. The janitor helped her from 
her undignified position with the sage obser- 
vation that any woman of her age and expe- 



rience who would let a man lock her up in the 
top floor of an old empty house was needing 
all that was coming to her on a fire escape. 
But Molly was not interested in advice. 


256 



UNCLE JEREMIAH 


What she most wanted was the Green Tree 
Hotel. She thought of Abner. Strange that 
when he was -really wanted and needed he 
was nowhere in sight. She was now willing 
to go back to the farm and tend to the chick- 
ens and cows for the rest of her life. 

As she could not trust the street cars even 
for short distances, the janitor got the atten- 
tion of a passing cab and she was soon telling 
her distracting adventures to Merrilee and 
Uncle Jeremiah. 

Paquita was now indeed in trouble. To be 
sure, she was conducting her share in the ex- 
periences quite heroically, but there was ex- 
treme danger to her in the course of events. 
What had happened now? The last Molly 
had seen of her was when the girl climbed up 
the fire ladder, while Val Hone was bursting 
through the door, and Molly was trying to 
get away down the rattling fire escape. But 
the villain had no interest in Molly, and he 
could see only one other way for the girl to 
get out of view. Val Hone went up the fire 
ladder and climbed out upon the fiat top of 
the big building. He ran to the brick wall 
that enclosed the roof, where he might look 
over and find what had become of the fugi-* 
tive. She had got away from the first build-' 
ing. The next roof was about six feet lower .1 
He had hoped she could not climb over. ButJ 


257 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


she had done so and was just disappearing 
over the far wall down the fire ladder at that 
place as Val Hone came into view. When he 
arrived at the ladder her nimble feet had 
taken her down so rapidly that she was just 
reaching the groimd. Some one had seen her 
making that hasty descent, so remarkable for 
a girl. Val Hone saw that he wore the uni- 
form of a district messenger boy. The pur- 
suer’s efforts were fruitless. She was now 
out of his reach and he had other affairs so 
pressing that he could not now follow her, but 
the next time she would not escape. He re- 
solved next time to make assurance doubly 
sure. He would take her to Mexico. 

It was a wonderful story of exciting adven- 
ture that Roy Jones of the Quick Messenger 
Service heard in explanation of her escape 
down the fire ladder from the top of the old 
tenement houses. It fired the boy’s sense of 
the romantic. He was then on his way to de- 
liver an important message. It was but lit- 
tle out of his way to go by his mother’s home, 
where his mother and sister would be glad to 
give her a breakfast, which would now also 
serve as noon lunch. He would be back in 
an hour and would take her to Uncle Jere- 
miah at the Green Tree Hotel. He was 
pleased to assure her that he was already ac- 
quainted with the fine old gentleman. 


258 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


This seemed the thing for her to do and in 
a little while she was seated at the table in a 
neat dining room, satisfying herself from a 
hunger that had begun to be exceedingly 
clamorous. 

At the end of her refreshing meal she was 
sl^anding by the window with the messenger 



boy’s mother and sister, when their attention 
was attracted by some excitement far below 
them in the roadway. A crowd was out in 


259 



UNCLE JEREMIAH 


the center of the street looking up into the 
sky. Then they caught a glimpse of an aero- 
plane flashing by just above the tops of the 
houses, on the way to the aviation field at the 
western end of the grounds. The little girl, 
who was .about Paquita’s age, looked very 
doleful. 

‘^It’s the beginning of the big prize-flying 
contest,” she said, ‘‘and Roy promised to 
take me. I never saw flying machines.” 

“And I never saw one before!” cried Pa- 
quita, with the enthusiasm upon her of seeing 
new sights. “Let’s go! I don’t have to go 
to the Green Tree Hotel till night. Let’s 
go.” 

Just then the door opened and the hoy 
came in, full of excitement. 

“They say there is going to be twenty ma- 
chines or more in the air all at once. Let’s 
all go.” 

The excitement became unanimous and 
they went. 

All the thrills common to an aviation meet 
were theirs and the hours fled like swift- 
vdnged minutes until the declining sun was 
tingeing the Golden Gate with its mellow 
gold. The show was over. Those permitted 
inside where the flying machines were, stood 
idly around discussing the day’s events, and 
the people were dispersing. Paquita and her 


260 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


friends were walking along the fence on their 
way out of the Fair grounds when she called 
attention to ^ pigeon fluttering along on the 
ground with wings extended and something 
white tied on its feet. Her sympathies were 
aroused. It was not right to treat the poor 
bird that way. 

^^Ah, it’s just some advertising scheme,” 
asserted the worldly-wise messenger boy, ‘^or 
some newspaper fake.” 

‘‘But it hurts the pigeon,” declared the 
girl with the zeal of a humane society. “I’m 
going to set it free.” 

She began to climb the fence with the agil- 
ity of a squirrel. Eoy Jones was astonished 
with admiration. He could hardly have 
equaled it himself. He must show her what 
he could do in the way of climbing, and he 
was over upon the ground a close second with 
her. A guard seeing the fence-climbing ex- 
hibit felt a pang of duty strike him, and he 
hastened to curb the athletics of the young- 
sters. 

They had caught the pigeon and were un- 
wrapping the paper from its feet when he ar- 
rived. He considered it his business to take 
charge of everything not regularly in the 
scheme of things. Therefore he took the un- 
wrapping process into his own hands. A 
curious crowd began to collect, among them 


261 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


some policemen and several reporters. There 
was writing on both sides of the sheet of pa- 
per which he held up for all to read w^ho could 
see. On one side was Pickup’s appeal to Un- 
cle J eremiah to be saved from the murderous 
designs of Val Hone. The other side was 
Molly’s appeal to Mr. Val to come to the 
Green Tree Hotel and find his fortune. In 
the first some of the sensational reporters saw 
a chance for a great rescue story, in the other 
the imaginative ones saw a great black-hand 
plot worthy of big front page headlines for 
a week or more. 

Paquita crowded in and was one to get a 
glimpse of Pickup’s appeal to Uncle Jere- 
miah. She knew exactly where the two 
friends were imprisoned, for she had been 
shut up in that place herself. She tried fran- 
tically to make somebody understand, but 
she was considered a nuisance and was un- 
ceremoniously shoved aside. Nobody could 
believe that things ever happened that way. 

Utterly unable to make any of them listen 
seriously to her, she went away with her new 
friends and told the story to them. They be- 
lieved it and Eoy Jones saw a new field of 
glory open before him, as one to rescue the 
perishing. 

It was rapidly closing in dark when they 
arrived at the messenger boy’s home to get 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


their supper. They found two letters in their 
mail box, one to the boy, the other to the girl. 
Both were the same. Each contained a cir- 
cular. One was from the headquarters of the 
boy scouts, the other from the headquarters 
of the campfire girls. Paquita was sitting 
mipatiently by the window, looking down 
into the street, thinking that the wild life 
of being lost on the plains, in the midst of 
interminable undulations of sand and sage- 
brush, was a rose-garden experience by the 
side of this wild battle of warring wills. 

The brother and sister looked at each other 
as they read the circular of reward offered to 
boy scouts and campfire girls. Then they 
looked at the picture and at the girl by the 
window. They agreed. The lost girl was 
there by the window. The lost boy was pris- 
oner somewhere in the bluffs of Pine Cone 
Hill. It was a wonderful opportunity. Roy’s 
company of boy scouts were then having 
their armual outing in the valley just beyond 
the place named in the pigeon message, and 
his sister’s campfire organization was camp- 
ing in the edge of the Muir woods next to the 
scene of the impending tragedy. 

The mother was taken into hasty consulta- 
tion in an adjoining room. A plan at once 
sprang into their minds. They would organ- 


263 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


ize a rescue expedition of campfire girls and 
boy scouts. 

Paquita was unconscious of tbe sudden 
admiration with which she w,as contemplated 
by the returning trio. But she was conscious 
of a remarkable tenderness and care exer- 
cised over her. If all strangers treated others 
like that and all friends could be even more 
so, the ^‘kingdom-come’’ would be here. 
There would be no use of any dying to go to 
a better place. 

The phone was soon busy. The story of 
the lost girl in their house was told to others 
who had received the circular. It w,as a 
chance to make a great name for the camp- 
fire girls and boy scouts. They would rescue 
Pickup and present him and Paquita togeth- 
er to IJncle Jeremiah, with glory and reward 
awaiting their courage and skill. 

As it was a bright, full-moon night, and de- 
lay was dangerous, the idea rapidly matured 
to send at least three automobiles to each 
camp filled with parents and members who 
could go. The two camps would meet about 
daylight and swarm around Pine Cone Hill 
till they found and liberated the prisoners. 
E^ch one of the rescue expedition was pro- 
vided with a fierce whistle. A code of signals 
was agreed upon that would bring all togeth- 
er at any point of danger or special discov- 


264 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


ery. As the boy prisoner was Paquita’s 
friend, of course she should be taken along. 

By midnight the cavalcade of rescuers was 
on its way to arouse the respective c^mps and 
arrange the plan of conquest. 




XX. 

MIND-READING ON A PIGEON HUNT. 

Captain Mnlford was issuing final direc- 
tions for closing out the aviation meet when 
one of the guards came running up to him 
with the startling news that there was a riot 
brewing over some quarrel among a lot of 
people near the front entrance. He hastened 
across to the gathering crowd, especially anx- 
ious that nothing happen to mar his record 
in management. 

The story was soon told him and he un- 
derstood much more than he revealed. How- 
ever, he did not get to see the two mysterious 
notes found on the sheet of paper, for the po- 
lice had carried the paper away as a special 
find for the police department. 

One of the reporters had the pigeon. He 
came up to Mulf ord fiushed with a suggestion. 

‘‘Say,” he began mysteriously, “IVe just 
struck a stimt in my mind that will put the 
Exposition on the map bigger than the Euro- 
pean war. My paper would put up the stuff 
to finance such a scheme, but it will make a 
bigger story if there is some kind of a love in- 
terest bacl^g it. Do you know anyone who 
will put up the cash to pay an aviator to fol- 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


low this bird to its nest? Of course, that’s 
where the fellow got it who wrote the note. 
All the evidence shows it. We could tie white 
paper streamers on one foot, so the bird could 
be followed and we would ‘have as a newsp^a- 
per sensation the race of a flying machine 
with a carrier pigeon, the only hope of a fond 
parent for his che-ild.” 

The proposition looked more plausible to 
Mulford than the reporter guessed. 

‘‘Yes, I know a man who will put up the 
money to pay the best aviator we have on the 
grounds,” replied Mulford. “It’s not exactly 
his child, but he is about as much interested. 
You go at once to the phone and call up Uncle 
Jeremiah at the 0reen Tree Hotel and get 
him out here as soon as it can be done. Give* 
him to understand that it means a plan for 
the quickest possible rescue of his boy Pickup 
and probably the boy’s friend known as 
Hugget. Get him while I go over and have a 
talk with the aviators about the exploit.” 

Both were away at once on their mission, 
the reporter guarding the pigeon as a most 
precious possession, one out of which he was 
expecting name and fame in a night, with a 
raise of salary next day. 

Uncle Jeremiah got the hurry-up message 
and took ,a waiting automobile at once for the 
aviation field. There he found Mulford, the 


267 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


aviator and the reporter in a hot discussion. 
Uncle Jeremiah settled the question. The bird 
could not fly back that afternoon. It had 
struggled with its bonds until it was com- 
pletely exhausted. It must have water and 
food and a night’s rest. The night was then 
coming rapidly down upon them. Nothing 
could be done till daylight. For an agreed 
upon price the aviator would endeavor to fol- 
low the pigeon at clear dawn the next morn- 
ing, and drop a large piece of white cloth at 
the point where the pigeon went down. Mul- 
ford would be at Pine Cone Hill with some 
picked men, awaiting the flying machine and 
watching for the drop of the white cloth. Ac- 
cordingly the reporter took the feathered 
messenger where it could be attended to with 
the tenderest care and the others went to 
their respective places, eager for the test of 
the coming morning. 

When Uncle Jeremiah arrived at the hotel, 
he found another singular surprise awaiting 
him. The manager took him over to a cage 
containing a pigeon that a farmer boy had 
brought in about the time that the old man 
had been called away. The message tied to 
its feet had been sent to police headquarters. 

However, two notes had been left for him 
which doubtless more fully explained the 
case. He went to his room to read them. 


268 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


The first was from Molly. It was too com- 
plicated for anyone to unravel who already 
had his head full, 

‘ ‘ Dear IJncle J eremiah : 

am gone I know not where. A police- 
man and a reporter came to my room looking 
for a black-hand person who had written a 
decoy letter to Mr. Val. For the first time in 
my life I had to lie and I done it. I can’t af- 
ford to be shanghied for my crimes. I’d 
rather go home. If you hear of me restoring 
the farm, don’t be agitated. It may be more 
suitable to my peace of mind. Molly.” 

The other note was from Merrilee. It con- 
tained more definite information of immediate 
importance. 

‘‘Dear IJncle Jeremiah: 

“The information at hand seems to show 
that Val Hone has locked up somewhere 
about Pine Cone Hill, not only Pickup, but 
also Paquita and her father. Eig Veda and I 
have once before been to the hut where we 
believe they are held captive. The hotel de- 
tective is going along with us as protector 
and helper. He will drive the machine. We 
believe we can liberate the prisoners. There 
is no time to lose and I am wild for the ex- 
citement of the adventure. Merrilee.” 

“That’s it,” exclaimed Uncle Jeremiah, 


269 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 

‘‘she is wild for the excitement of adventure. 
She thinks all she has to do is to walk up 
there and yell, ‘Ho! Ye prisoners, come forth 
to liberty. Here are your rescuers.’ But 
these young adventurers want the glory of it. 
Ah, the reckless impulse of youth.” 

The sigh was cut short by his sudden 
thought of the morning excitement. He left 
a call to be waked an hour before daylight 
and then went to his slumbers for the best 
rest he could get on such a troubled night. 

Meanwhile, Big Veda, with the house de- 
tective and Merrilee, had hastened with all 
speed to restore themselves in their own esti- 
mation as rescuers of the imprisoned. They 
drove the machine up to the same spot at Pine 
Cone Hill where they had been before and 
alighted ready for the expedition to the little 
old stone hut in the side of Pine Cone Hill. 

“I haven’t had anything to boast of in so 
long a time,” said Eig Veda with a pouter- 
pigeon swelling of the chest, “that I hardly 
know how, but I feel the vital elation coming 
back. Now watch me make good and verify 
my title to be hero-poet, philosopher, detect- 
ive and all-around efficiency expert.” 

Rig Veda was attentive to his unconven- 
tional and adventurous companion, but never 
intrusive. His demeanor never suggested any 
encroachment on any view of the purest 


270 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


friendship. ^ She had always felt at ease with 
him. And it was even so now as she scaled 
the bluff with him, leaving the detective at a 
watchful distance in the rear. 

But, as soon as they had started off around 
the rough pathway leading to the open space 
where the hut was, Merrilee felt a sudden gust 
of alarm for what was before them. XJntil 
now her enthusiasm for .achieving a heroic 
rescue had kept her in bounding spirits for 
the conquest. Now that the unknown danger 
was near she could feul its uncanny presence. 

‘‘Aren’t you armed for emergencies?” she 
asked. 

“Yes, with intelligence,” he replied. “One 
who does not win with intelligence is not hu- 
man and can neither enjoy nor keep his suc- 
cess. One who can not do more with his wit 
than with a bullet has a gunbarrel head. I 
tell you I am a poet, ^nd I shall soon prove to 
you that I am a hero-poet, living not ideals but 
life.” 

The loquacious philosopher had to become 
silent as they climbed out through the upper 
ledges of the bluff and obtained a view of the 
solitary hut for which they were searching. 
They went up to the door and found it open, 
but at this visit the Indian woman was at 
home. She stood in the middle of the floor, 
arms akimbo, waiting for them. A fleeting 


271 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


grin of recognition softened her countenance 
for a moment and then her face relapsed into 
its habitual blankness. 

Rig Veda asked some questions about the 
sightseeing around there and then said that 
he had seen some pigeons flying around, of 
which he would like very much to have a pair. 
Did she know where she could get pair for 
him? He held up a ten dollar gold piece as 
the reward offered. She looked at it greedily 
for a moment and then put a shawl over her 
head, saying, ‘‘We see,’’ as she went out. 

Rig Veda watched her through a chink in 
the wall till she disappeared down around the 
rocks on the side next to the higher ridge. 

“I must follow her,” he said, “and it’s got 
to be .a mighty careful job or my wit may 
sure enough need a gun to make up for the 
weakness. While I am out you take a look in 
the cellar that is under this floor. You’ll find 
a door somewhere. The prisoners may be here 
but I think not as there are no pigeons around 
here. I’ll be back as soon as I find where 
Pickup got his pigeons, and I am not suppos- 
ing the Indian woman will go anywhere else to 
get one.” 

He hurried out and slipped cautiously 
around the rock to follow the swift-footed 
woman. Merrilee sat a few moments some- 
what excited and yet uncertain about her ad- 


272 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


venture in rescuing the endangered persons. 
Then she realized that she must do her part 
and do it quickly. 

She searched carefully over the floor but no 
trap door could be found to the cellar that 
Rig Veda said v&as below. She went outside 
the house and at the rear found under a huge 
climbing rose bush a slanting cellar door. It 
,was closed by a hinged draw-bar and fastened 
with chain and padlock, but the key was in 
the lock. She soon freed the draw-bar so she 
could lift it and set it to hold up the lifted 
door. Then she went inside, where she foimd 
a very comfortably furnished room, fairly 
well lighted by the wide chinks in the foun- 
dation of the floor. 

As soon as she found that it contained no 
one, she turned to go out, when the door fell 
to its place with a loud bang. She attempted 
to lift it but the hinged bar seemed to have 
fallen back in its place and locked her in. She 
listened long, after she gave up trying to open 
the door, but not a sound of anyone w^s to be 
heard. 

Meantime, Rig Veda had run across to the 
rocky descent and crawled down among the 
broken ledges, looking for the Indian woman, 
that he might follow her to the pigeons’ nest. 
But he could get no glimpse of her. He had 
begun to feel something of alarm creeping in 

273 


UNCLE. JEREMIAH 


on him and was pausing under the edge of a 
shelving rock to come to some conclusion, 
when he felt his arms suddenly bound to his 
side by the loop of a lasso. Before he could 
think how to exert himself another loop of it 
came over his shoulders and then another and 
another. A jerk brought his back up tight 
against the rock. Then the rope became steady 
in a groove and was evidently stretched tight 
and fast by being fastened to something above. 

He had seen no one and had heard no one. 
But, as he stood there half suspended, though 
not as uncomforl^able as it might seem, he 
had time to think it out that this was the 
work of the Indian woman who had seen 
through his subterfuge, and had prepared 
herself for him as he came by on her trail. 

Eig Yeda was exasperated. His wits had 
been insufficient. To be strung up like a ham, 
when so much was involved, was decidedly 
distasteful. It lowered his self-respect. Be- 
sides, as the afternoon turned into night, the 
monotonous position became uncomfortable. 
He felt painful alarm for Merrilee. He could 
make no guess what might happen to her or 
what she would do. He tried every imagin- 
able device to free himself but to no use. It 
looked as if he were destined to hang there in 
that silent spot till sur^ enough cured of all 
earthly ills. But in the stillness, noises came 


274 


UNCLE JERE^IIAH 


keenly to his strung up ears. Unquestionably, 
he heard the sounds of shuffling steps coming 
that way. Presently he could see the form 
of a man slipping around through the bushes 
several rods below him. As the form came 
nearer, he discovered that it was his chauffeur. 



the hotel detective, whom he had almost given 
up as either having abandoned him or as 
having been likewise made prisoner. 

‘‘Here, man,” he called softly. “You are 
getting off of the trail. Come up this way.” 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


The chauffeur stopped and peered through 
at the almost indiscernible object strung up 
against the rock 

‘‘Who is it?’’ he called cautiously. 

“It’s myself,” replied the captive. “The 
hero-poet who is vindicating the power of 
luck and wit over all vulgar appeal to force 
and firearms.” 

“How did you come to be in this fix?” ask- 
ed the driver, looking fearfully around as if 
expecting the same fate. 

“It is more than I can imagine,” he ob- 
scurely explained, “and so more than I can 
put into language. Explanations are usually 
superfiuous. Get busy and cut me loose. 
There is a woman up at the house waiting for 
you to take her back to the hotel, and it’s get- 
ting late for such folks to be out.” 

Eig Veda was soon liberated and the two 
men went boldly up to the house. Ho one was 
anywhere to be seen. They went in and 
searched around but were unable to discover 
anything giving them a clue to the vanished 
woman. 

Presently a voice from beneath the floor at- 
tracted their attention. 

“Who are you?” it asked in very tremu- 
lous tones. 

“It is I. Be not afraid,” replied Rig Veda, 


276 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


recognizing the prisoner below. ‘^Behold the 
hero-poet comes to the rescue.” 

Merrilee had certainly never heard a more 
welcome voice. He soon found the cellar door, 
broke the padlock with a stone and set her 
free. In a few minutes they were hastening 
aroimd the hill and down the bluff to the auto- 
mobile. 

‘‘Take her as quickly as you can to the 
Green Tree Hotel,” he ordered as he closed 
the door of the car, while he remained, to their 
surprise, on the outside. “I came here for 
pigeons, and I’m going to have pigeons, or 
their equivalent, before I return. The hero- 
poet hath spoken. So mote it be.” 

The machine lurched forward and whirled 
aw^ay along the uncertain road. Merrilee 
looked back and saw Rig Veda climbing the 
pathway toward the home of the Indian 
woman. 

His eyes were somewhat keener and more 
alert as the result of his recent experiences. 
He carefully surveyed, as much as he was able 
in the growing darkness, each open space be- 
fore him. It was this caution that enabled 
him, at a point of observation, just beyond 
where he had been found, to see the Indian 
woman peering out from a hiding place to see 
if her prisoner was still securely held up 
against the rock. He had taken the part of 

277 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


the lasso that had been cut from him and made 
it into a loop, which he now proposed to use 
on her as she had used it on him. Eemember- 
ing her superior craft by nature, he shrank 
back in the crevice of an adjacent rock and 
waited for her to pass. Slowly she crept by, 
and when she had gone a step beyond him, 
she paused to study the unexpected appear- 
ance of the spot where she had left her pris- 
oner. This wias his opportunity. The noose 
went over her head and instantly tightened 
her arms to her body. She whirled about and 
he wrapped the lariat again around her and 
slipped it through into a knot. She made no 
move to run, but stared at him with a grunt 
more of admiration for his dexterity than of 
resentment. 

When he had her secure, he took hold of one 
of her wrists with his fingers on her pulse. 
The other hand he placed upon her neck, grip- 
ping it so that his fingers pressed tightly upon 
her throat. 

‘‘Now move toward the pigeons,’’ he order- 
ed. “I can read your mind through the 
points of my fingers. I will know when you 
are going toward them. You can’t fool me 
and I will make it very uncomfortable for you, 
now and hereafter, if you try to deceive me. 
Move on. I must have pigeons before it is too 
dark to see the way.” 


278 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


As an expert in reading the emotions 
through the muscles, nerves and pulse, he had 
many times performed rare feats in reading 
minds so as to locate hidden articles in a most 
inconceivable way. He soon found that he 



was having considerably more trouble than he 
expected in reading through his fingers the 
mind of an Indian woman. According to pro- 
fessional mind-reading signs, she certaMy 
changed her mind many times. At least there 
were many times in which he changed his 


279 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


guess. The twitching muscle and the quick- 
ened pulse seemed to be no indication that she 
was going anywhere. It did not seem to occur 
to her that this undignified proceeding had 
any scientific value. Rig Veda l\ad triumph- 
antly found many a pin hidden in the back of 
a chair among a lot of friendly doubters in a 
parlor, but this was no parlor game, however 
confidently he had begun it. 

Night had deepened into many conflicting 
shadows, but the big, round, red moon was be- 
coming clearer, and was rapidly making 
amends for the loss of the sun. They came out 
into an open space and beheld the shadowy 
outline of a house, around which there was an 
indistinguishable background of rocky forms. 

‘^If this is the place,’’ said Rig Veda, paus- 
ing in the bewildering uncertainty of his baf- 
fled art, ^‘show me at once where they are. 
If I can get one or two, I will give you the 
gold piece. If you have misled me. I’ll have 
to show you what it means to deceive the elect, 
and to defeat the intelligence of a superior 
system.” 

This roll of words as a threat brought forth 
only a stolid grunt, but, as if consenting, she 
led the way around the rim of rocks, at about 
the same distance, to a point where she came 
straight up to the house, under a wide spread- 
ing bush. She stooped and raised an object 


280 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 



there, when, too quick for any defense, her 
shoulder came into his side like a catapult. He 
pitched forward into an opening where his 
head cracked against the wall, so that he 
seemed to be floating through a vision of the 
milky ivay for an hour, before he could get 
the use of his hands and feet. Then he arose 
full of righteous wrath, to subject his captive 
to proper discipline, but his head bumped 
hard against an immovable covering that shut 


he could not see and said: ^‘Put your hand in 
there and you get them.’' 

He cautiously felt around to find what was 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


him in. Silent helplessness enveloped him. 
He found that he was in the cellar of the 
house he had left to follow the Indian woman. 
His superior intelligence had gained him noth- 
ing but a prison. 


XXL 

MOBILIZING THE ARMIES OP RESCUE. 

Merrilee sank humbly back in her seat, 
when the automobile started away on its re- 
treat, as it were, from the zone of heroic en- 
deavor. She felt that her two adventures 
with Rig Yeda in the cause of brilliant liber- 
ation had come to an inglorious end. How- 
ever, he had stuck to his job and that stub- 
born perseverance still upheld somewhat in 
her appreciation his clamorous claims as a 
hero-poet. Human imagination in its roman- 
tic interests is never so much concerned with 
results as with the brilliancy of the way. 

The hotel detective, much disgruntled with 
the slump in things heroic, drove the machine 
as rapidly as possible so as to arrive at the 
ferry before dark. But the uncertain road- 
way misled him, and Merrilee drew his atten- 
tion to the fact that he was on a very round- 
about course when he came up by the farm 
house where she had spent the night of her 
first unlucky adventure. Both of them were 
suffering from thirst and they decided to stop 
and get a- drink. There they came upon an 
xmexpected situation. Here was where the 
pigeon was found that had been taken in to 

283 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Uncle Jeremiah. From the fact that the one 
who wrote the note had been at their house, 
and they knew something of the viltainy from 
others who had been there, they were greatly 



concerned about it, and had gathered in their 
immediate neighbors for a conference. There 
was actually crime going on in their territory 
and it must be suppressed. The eyes of the 
world were now on San Francisco Bay and 
there must be nothing bad to be seen about 
Muir Woods. 


284 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


Merrilee was now able to add much more to 
their information and incidentally to their in- 
dignation. She left them arranging a plan to 
surround the Indian woman’s house and force 
her to lead them to the prisoners, if they were 
unable to find the prison themselves. 

When she arrived at the Green Tree Hotel, 
she found Uncle Jeremiah in the midst of re- 
porters and policemen. Soon she learned the 
plans, and had a conversation over the phone 
vdth Captain Mulford, making arrangements 
to ride with him out to Pine Cone Hill at an 
early hour in the morning, in order to witness 
the end of the race between the pigeon and 
the aeroplane. 

Meanwhile, the rescue division of the boy 
scouts and campfire girls, under the leader- 
ship and chaperonage of officers, guardians 
and parents, were gathering at their appointed 
place of meeting down in the valley near the 
base of Pine Cone Bluffs. They were noiseless 
and without any light but that of the full 
moon now fiooding the woods from its w^estern 
incline. The domestic science members served 
luncheon and the advance exploring-scouts 
were sent out to locate the region into which 
the combined camps would swarm with over- 
whelming force to their deed of heroic rescue. 
If possible, the sweeping assault was to be 
ready by early daylight. It was a weighty 

285 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


responsibility. In the awe of their romantic 
mission, they whispered their opinions and 
orders. As the girls all had on white dresses 
it was decided that the boys must surround 
the house without. the campfire girls coming 
into view and make the rush to free the pris- 
oners. The signal for the rush, however, 
should be a vigorous blowing of the whistles 
by all, so as to make as much of a din as pos- 
sible. At the psychological moment, the white 
circle should spring forth to be seen as aveng- 
ing angels, inspiring the warriors to deeds of 
valor, and striking the enemy with dismay, 
should such a person have the folly to be 
present. 

Meanwhile, Eig Veda, in the seclusion of 
his dungeon, had fallen fast asleep, free from 
every care, back into the region where every- 
thing prospers, and everyone succeeds. But 
a shrill whistle near his head startled him 
wide awake. Several answers were heard at 
various points around. Was a clan of bandits 
gathering? He listened intently, not being 
sure whether it was friends or foes. He could 
hardly believe that Val Hone had organized 
a band of looters, and he knew of no reason 
why he should be the object of so many 
friends. Cautious, shuffling steps were heard 
all around. A loud rap was struck on the 


286 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


front door. No answer being given, there was 
a furious series of them. 

‘^Surrender, you devils,” called out some- 
one, with the voice of a victorious commander 
calling down a fort. ‘‘Surrender, or we will 
burn the house down over you. We are honest 
farmers and won’t stand for any robbers in 
our neighborhood.” 

To have the house set on fire over his head 
was an unpleasant prospect, and Rig Veda at 
once decided that the time had come for a 
hero-poet to be humble. 

“Come in,” he called out. “You are wel- 
come to all you can find.” 

He thought that invitation was fair enough 
and so became silent to await results. 

Unable to get the door open by peaceful 
means, they swung a rock against it and the 
whole force went in together. A glance around 
made it appear that the house was inhabited 
by nothing but a voice. 

In the midst of the superstitious silence oc- 
casioned by this discovery, one of them heard 
an imaccountable noise outside. He stepped 
to the door. A hand came around the corner 
and caught him by the ankle. He went head- 
long upon the ground with a wild yell. 

“Help! Help!” he cried. “The devils have 
got me.” 

His frightened friends heard him thump 


287 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


heavily upon the earth, and the silence that 
followed was indeed profound, except for the 
sound of the door slammed shut. 

We ’ll get the rest of you fools at day- 
light,” shouted one of the foe outside, and all 
ab^out the house became as silent as a tomb. 
Eig Veda found the situation to be too compli- 
cated for ordinary solution and he decided to 
forget it until morning. 



The advance boy scouts who had gone on 
ahead to discover the best way to get up to 
the house described by Paquita, came back 
with word that they had found the house and 


288 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


could see some one on the outside guarding 
it. This added spice to the enterprise. There 
was indeed an enemy at hand and the boys 
might have to take the enemy by surprise, 
perhaps in a hand-to-hand conflict. 

The boy scouts moved on cautiously ahead, 
following their leader in a flne enveloping 
column while their guardians strolled along 
safely in the rear, as a supporting column, 
morally if not physically rear-guard for the 
advance brigade. ’ The excitement was in- 
creased as they came to their destination. At 
the edge of the open space, among the rocks, 
just back of where the boys were concealed, 
the campflre girls were suitably deployed, 
ready for their angel-inspiration act. The 
boys were stationed along the edge of the 
open space, with swelling chests charged with 
pride at the witnesses they had looking so ad- 
miringly upon their brave procedure. 

A momentary thrill of sanguinary battle 
went through the besiegers as they plainly 
saw three forms seated upon the ground close 
up in the shadow of the old house. This was 
greater odds than they had bargained for, 
but the W^ll of white forms back below them 
made retreat unthinkable if not impossible. 

A venturesome boy crawled up quite close 
and brought back the information that there 
were, sure enough, three forms, but that one 

289 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


was tied to a bush and the other two were 
asleep leaning up against the wall of the 
house on each side of the steps. 

It was just coining clear daylight when 
Captain Mulford and Merrilee arrived at the 
spot where Merrilee had come twice before, 
at the foothill upon which rested the bluffs 
around Pine Cone Hill. They were amazed to 
find that half a dozen automobiles filled with 
reporters and their friends had arrived there 
before them, and several were in sight on the 
way. A select few were to witness rare sport. 
To see an aviator in his niachine follow a 
pigeon that he might locate the pri&on where 
a desperado held his victims, was regarded as 
excitement enough to bring everybody there 
who had the good fortune to hear about it. 
Newspaper editors were expecting the big- 
gest story of the season and all wanted to 
have a part in the rescue that was to be made 
historic by such a feat. 

Uncle Jeremiah went out before daylight 
to the aviation field with the second pigeon. 
This was the one which had been brought to 
him at the hotel by the farmer’s boy. White 
paper streamers tied on to the feet of these 
two companion birds made it so the aviator 
could start his machine at the moment of the 
first clear light in the sky. 

Uncle Jeremiah, according to arrangement. 


290 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


went with his two birds far up into the Tower 
of Jewels in the Fair Grounds. He saw the 
aeroplane arise from the aviation field. As it 
came near high over the Tower he tossed the 
two birds into the air in the direction of their 
homes. Though it was just beginning to be 
clear dawn, the birds were plainly visible with 
the long white paper streamers to their feet. 
As far as he could see either birds or airship, 
they were moving evenly on the way to the 
mountain prison. 

At this time, the boy scouts were gathering 
their feet under themselves, so to speak, for 
the leap toward the silent forms guarding the 
prison. 

A solitary scream from the whistle of the 
leader, Roy J ones, split the ears of the sleep- 
ers at the door of the hut. Then there was a 
circle of such sounds, one blast after another, 
outrivaling Gabriel’s horn. The two forms at 
the door struck the ground and went around 
the house like rolling barrels. The enveloping 
regiment of boy scouts leaped oilt from their 
defenses and crept forward. The white angels 
of inspiration appeared upon the rocks. 

And then there was a pause. An unexpect- 
ed sound froze them in their places. The 
fierce rattle of artillery in the air broke upon 
their ears. Before they could get a second 
breath or another thought it seemed to be 


291 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


■upon them. It passed over their heads and 
away on the other side. They realized that 
they had been visited by a flying machine. At 
the same moment a huge and increasing vol- 
ume of smoke was seen to be boiling up in a 
short turn around the bluff. As if all this 
were not enough to complicate the scene, half 
a dozen men came plunging up to them over 
the rocks. 

^‘Did you see where the pigeons went 
down?’’ they yelled in great excitement. ‘‘Did 
you see the aviator drop a white cloth?” 

Then they saw the boy scouts in belligerent 
attitude and the flock of campflre girls spread 
around on the neighboring rocks. 

“What does all this mean?” cried Captain 
Mulford as Merrilee and several other women 
came breathless up to the group of men. 

The door of the house opened and several 
shame-faced farmers came out. They untied 
their comrade who was fastened to the bush. 
At that, two policemen, who had been de- 
tailed to save the reputation of the force, ap- 
peared from behind the building. 

Then a shout of laughter went up from the 
campflre girls. They were the flrst to under- 
stand that everybody had been making the 
others prisoners. 

“But the prisoners are there,” insisted Eoy 
Jones. “I was scouting around and I could 


292 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


see signs of them in the cellar. They may be 
gagged there and so can’t holler.” 

lie whole crowd we;p.t aroimd to the cellar 
door. A big stone was lifted off of the door 
and the place was opened up. The excited 
crowd gathered around to see the prisoners 
come forth from their dimgeon. Sure enough, 
a prisoner appeared. He looked aroimd at 
the crowd and laughed. 



Thank you,” he said with a very profound 
bow of acknowledgment. ‘'But why are you 
all standing around here grinning as if you 
were being entertained with a slap-stick bur- 
lesque? Don’t you see the house over there 

293 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


burning down upon the heads of two prison- 
ers?’’ 

He ran forward past them and disappeared 
down among the rocks. Merrilee was the 
first to understand. 

‘‘Come on,” she cried. “We are at the 
wrong place to rescue the prisoners.” 

Midford was soon at her side, helping her 
down the rough stairway of rocks. The crowd 
followed yelling like a mob. 


294 


XXIL 

A STRENUOUS ‘‘GET-AWAY/' 

Paquita went with the others in full confi- 
dence that the boy scouts sent on ahead to find 
the prison had done so. She had described 
the place correctly, but in their excitement, 
the first house they saw in that region was 
believed to be the one meant. She had been 
through so much adventure that the expedi- 
tion did not fire her with the enthusiasm of 
the others. She did not rush on like the rest. 
Very soon she found them all ahead of her on 
the way, and a little later she discovered that 
they were going to the house in the open space 
instead of to the house under the ledges. It 
would not do to call after them and she did 
not feel any impulse to overtake them. The 
thought struck her that she could do the liber- 
ating act herself. Accordingly, she swerved 
from the line of march, and carefully searched 
her way up among the rocks toward the ridge 
of overhanging ledges, that had become famil- 
iar to her through the little windows of her 
half-day sojourn in the prison. She came up 
from the rocks almost exactly in front of the 
door. Daylight was breaking rapidly and she 
could see quite clearly all about the dark gray 

295 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


forms looming so coarsely before her. The 
closest scrutiny convinced her that no watch- 
man or sentinel was anywhere around to in- 
terfere. Creeping cautiously up to the door, 
she rapped briskly with a piece of rock. There 
was no sound and she called softly. 

‘'Hello! Who’s there?” 

Then there was the response of Pickup’s 
voice at the door. 

“Who are you?” 

“That’s not the question,” was the reply. 
“Are you the one who has lost a pigeon?” 

“All right,” was the eager answer. “Have 
you anything out there with which to pry off 
the lock on the door?” 

Paquita looked about her but saw nothing 
she could use. 

“Here,” cried the voice within, “I have 
found an old claw-hammer. Maybe you can 
use th;at.” 

The claw-hammer fell at her feet from the 
hole in the wall next to her. 

She went to work upon the staples holding 
the padlock. They began to yield. A mo- 
ment more and the lock rattled from its place 
dangling downward against the door. Then 
rusty hinges groaned and screeched. The 
rude door swung out and Pickup in a fervor of 
gratitude, ,as well as of agreeable astonish- 
ment, caught Paquita in his arms ^,nd kissed 


296 


UXCLE JEREMIAH 


her till he realized that his conduct was hard- 
ly on the program of a boy scout’s chivalry. 
Perhaps this was brought into his conscious- 
ness by the impression of someone standing 
in the door. 

‘‘It’s my turn now,” said an envious voice. 

It was Nugget who had become aware of 
something going on in the room below in time 
to be an observer of the last act in the scene. 

Paquita and Nugget took one glimpse of 
each other and then with the cry of “Daugh- 
ter” and “Father” mingled in each other’s 
arms. 

But returning consciousness of danger 
caused them to realize that there was no time 
to lose. Besides, they were both weak from 
hunger and half choked with thirst. Nugget 
was also ill. He staggered back against the 
wall and then they understood that they must 
not only get out of danger but the half -starved 
prisoners must have refreshments. It was 
not more than half a mile down to their auto- 
mobiles where there was abundance of food 
and drink. Closing the door and setting the 
staples and lock back into place, they hurried 
on down among the rocks on the way to food 
and safety. 

Hardly were they hidden in the descending 
ravine, when a cry from Paquita caused them 
to cower under cover from the scenes they 


297 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


had just left. She had seen the flutter of a 
red shawl coining around the jagged rocks on 
the ledge over the house. Peering cautiously 
from their hiding place, they could see Ogal- 
lalla Sue climbing aroimd to the point where 
Pickup had fastened the vine by which Pa- 
quita had escaped. In a moment she was 
followed by Val Hone. He had discovered 
that Pickup’s map was imaginary. The pris- 
oners were escaping just in time. They had 
come to fulfill the threat of vengeance. Val 
Hone carried a bundle. He laid it down and 
fastened it to the end of a pole he was carry- 
ing with him. Then he set the bundle on fire. 
"Wken it was thoroughly blazing into a coal, 
he lifted it out over the edge and thrust it un- 
der the eaves of the ledge, over the wall, and 
broke it loose among the boxes. Very quickly 
the smoke came pouring up around the rocks 
and the whole interior was ablaze. 

Suddenly there came a swiftly increasing 
clatter, a most imexpected bombardment of 
sounds over their heads. Two pigeons, with 
long paper streamers on their feet, were seen 
dashing down around the smoke and then off 
into the woods. An aeroplane appeared 
close above the highest point of the ridge. As 
it came over the column of smoke a white body 
was dropped from the machine. It came 
spreading out as it fell and settled down over 


298 


UNCLE JEBEMIAH 


the head of Val Hone. He fought it off wildly 
as if it were a demon from the skies coming 
down to smother him in its folds. Crazed 
with superstitious awe he flung it out over the 
ledge where it fell directly in the pathway of 
the fugitives. They saw that it was a white 
sheet, evidently dropped as a signal. 



299 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


They went on down to camp, where the two 
starving ones were soon refreshed. But in 
the midst of it, Nugget became more faint and 
ill. He could not stand up. 

‘‘We must get him back to the hospital,’’ 
cried Pickup. “We can’t wait to ask leave 
for one of these automobiles.” 

They lifted the now unconscious form of 
Nugget into the car and drove away for the 
safety of a sick man, who had been much 
weakened by his recent strenuous experiences. 

Val Hone and Ogallalla Sue stood petrified 
with superstitious awe at the strange expe- 
rience of the enveloping sheet, until they were 
aroused by the yelling crowd which was fol- 
lowing Rig Veda from the house up in the side 
of the hill. The surprised criminals had only 
one thought and that was to get away in the 
opposite direction. The yelling crowd rushed 
on down and surged around Rig Veda, who was 
breaking in the door with a heavy rock. The 
lock yielded with surprising ease. It had al- 
ready been broken open. The whole upper 
part of the house was a furnace of roaring 
flames, but they saw inside through the open 
door soon enough to find that no one was in 
the lower room. As the floor gave way, the 
whole front wall fell outward, and in a few 
minutes the inflammable interior had con- 


300 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


smned itself. Then they were able to see that 
no one was prisoner there. 

^^They have escaped,’’ cried Rig Veda. 
‘‘Now let’s find them so they can be assured 
of friends and safety.” 

The crowds spread out over the side of the 
ridge shouting and yelling in the exuberant 
elation of the morning adventure. 

Rig Veda climbed to a high point where he 
could have a wide surrounding view. Then 
he saw the culminating scene of their rescu- 
ing expedition. An automobile in the dis- 
tance, containing a boy and a girl, was just 
going out of view. It was followed by an- 
other containing a man and a woman. As this 
machine was at that moment passing his 
point of observation, he could see the passen- 
gers clearly. The woman wore a red shawl and 
the man had on the broad hat of Val Hone. 

He shouted at the top of his voice. 

“The prisoners are escaping in an automo- 
bile and the villains are after them in an- 
other,” cried Rig Veda. “Everybody who 
has a car come on.” 

Those near enough to hear, took up the 
shout. The signal whistles began to blow and 
the crowd converged at once toward the camp. 

Rig Veda was the first to arrive. He sprang 
into the nearest automobile. By the time it 
was on the move, Roy Jones and his sister 


301 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


climbed in. Mulford and Merrilee took the 
next and then the others came on in wild 
pursuit. 

Pickup was not trying to make more than 
ordinary speed. Nugget had revived but he 
was still too weak and ill to sit up. He was 
lying in the rear seat with his head in Pa- 
quita’s lap. Her quick ear suddenly caught 
the sound of an automobile follomng them. 
She looked around and saw hardly a hundred 
yards behind them the forms of their enemies. 
Both recognized the red shawl of Ogallalla 
Sue and the broad hat of Val Hone. Then 
they endeavored to get away, but Val Hone 
had selected a swifter machine and in a few 
moments he was alongside. 

They recognized their late prisoners with a 
momentary panic of superstition. It was a 
decided shock to their nervous system to dis- 
cover such a party in a car before them. They 
had been certain that two of these passengers 
were consumed in the burning building. They 
were indeed riding alongside some miracu- 
lously resurrected victims of the fiery fur- 
nace. 

But superstitious fear rapidly vanished 
before more material interests. Val Hone 
made up his mind quickly. He had no time 
to deal with the two men but he could get 
some revenge by the easier task of taking the 


302 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


girl. In a few words his plan was made. He 
swerved his machine around before the other 
and forced it to stop. With swift action, Ogal- 
lalla Sue sprang out into the road and seized 
the girl as she stood in defense over her fa- 
ther, who had again become unconscious. Val 
Hone threw the boy into the ditch and helped 
the woman get the struggling girl into his car. 
Just then they saw an automobile come 
swinging into view. Before they could get 
started, it had almost reached them. As it 
came by Pickup sprang aboard. Then it raced 
on. But the car with the captive was a speed- 
ier machine. It began to draw away rapidly 
from its pursuer. 

Paquita saw that friends were coming. She 
felt that she must help. Her active observ- 
ation was busy searching for some means to 
aid her friends. The suggestion what to do 
came when Ogallalla Sue leaned forward to 
hear something said by Val Hone. The In- 
dian woman had a knife in her belt. Paquita 
gently extracted it and leaned out over the 
side. A quick dash of her arm and there was 
a fierce hissing sound at the rear wheel. The 
machine swerved to one side and Val Hone re- 
alized that a tire was gone. It left no time 
for any action but escape. He leaped from 
the machine and started for the shore of the 
bay which was now in sight among the lower 

303 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


bluffs. Ogallalla Sue jumped out after him, 
and when Rig Veda arrived, they were mak- 
ing a desperate foot-race for a hiding place 
along the shore. 

Rig Veda and Pickup felt that ^heir job was 
not yet complete. The prisoners, so recently 
the victims of Ogallalla Sue and Val Hone, 
were determined to turn the tables on their 
enemies. They started off after the fugitives, 
leaving Paquita with her friends, who were 
coming on but a short distance away in a fly- 
ing procession. 

When the two pursuers reached the shore, 
they saw the objects of their pursuit running 
along the water’s edge toward a boat in which 
a boy and an old man were fishing. Something 
that Val Hone said to the old fisherman caused 
him to lift the lines and row up in nearer 
speaking distance. Another sentence or two 
and the old man rowed up quite close. Then 
Val Hone made a dash out into the water. He 
seized the tiller of the skiff and whirled the 
boat around to him. With a swift jerk, he 
threw both boy and man out into the water 
and, stepping in, shoved the boat away from 
them. Ogallalla Sue came splashing out to 
him. He gave her a shove with the end of a 
paddle in her stomach and she sat down in 
the water. With another stroke he was away. 
Realizing that she was deserted, she shook 


304 


UNCIiE JEREMIAH 



her fist at Val Hone and was soon endeavor- 
ing to escape along one of the ravines that 
ran out through the shore. When the two 
pursuers arrived at the scene of Val Hone’s 
activities, the sputtering old man and crying 


boy were unable to say anything, except by 
eloquent signs, and pointed helplessly at the 
man who was rapidly getting across the 
row arm of the bay to the thickly wooded 
shore. 

Ogallalla Sue had become invisible. They 
ran after ber to tbe top of tbe first ridge and 


305 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


then decided tl\at it would be useless for them 
to try to follow the fleet-footed Indian wom- 
an. Val Hone was the one they meant to get. 
They went back to the road and arrived there 
just in time to join the last of the procession 
that were escorting the reunited family to the 
Green Tree Hotel. 


30 € 


XXIII. 

‘ALL^S WELL THAT ENDS WELL/» 


Molly’s feelings and faith had been so sud- 
denly and violently reversed toward both love 
and Fate that she was, as it were, thrown com- 
pletely off of the track. Temporarily, at least, 
her car of progress was suddenly ditched. For 
policemen, detectives and newspaper report- 
ers to have her love-note which she had so in- 
nocently written to one whom she believed to 
be hers by decree of Fate, and for them to be 
making a mystery out of it as a criminal docu- 
ment or black-hand plot, was enough to grieve 
a saint. When she found the advance guards 
of law and order maneuvering about her 
premises, she decamped to find more peaceful 
scenes. Molly made a ‘‘get-away” to free air 
by the most direct route. The first convey- 
ance obtainable by which she could escape 
the zealous hunters, who were trailing her as 
a criminal, or an accomplice of criminals, was 
taken, and the curbstone chauffeur wheeled 
his machine away to the urgent commands, as 
she broke into the car: “Go! Yes, giddap! Go 
anywhere!” 

Straight ahead was the open way to any- 
where and the driver, went that way as far as 


3A7 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


he could go. But there was a rather undigni- 
fied individual loafing about the hotel en- 
trance who viewed Molly hasty flight with 
alarm. He heard her excited orders to the 
chauffeur with regrets. Something was 
wrong with Molly. He was there to see that 
nothing bad should happen to a ‘‘leddy,’’ es- 
pecially to his friend, the ^4eddy’’ from his 
home farm. Once before he had saved her 
from a villain, who was trying to elope with 
her, by using the happy suggestion of getting 
on to the rear end of the machine, and riding 
with them to the first stop, where he could 
get at the schemer. He thought of that expe- 
rience and made a dash to perform again the 
same feat, but the machine happened to have 
nothing on which he could lodge. The result 
was that he sat down heavily upon the road. 
Recent contact with smart events had sharp- 
ened his wits. Just as he was rising from his 
uncomfortable position, a motorcycle sheered 
around him. Necessity is the mother of sug- 
gestion as well as of action. Here was a 
method of locomotion arriving exactly on 
time. A swift jump for it and the astonished 
motorman found a passenger on the saddle 
behind him. 

‘^Go for your life,’’ cried the excited farmer 
in his ear. ‘‘There’s a leddy from my home 
farm running away in that automobile yan- 


308 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 

der. Keep right up behind it all the way, and 
your money is in my pocket.’’ 

The motorman seemed to think that his pas- 
senger had him and he followed instructions. 
He kept close up behind the departing 
^^leddy.” The hot chase ended at the gate- 
way of one of the ferry slips where a crowd 
was just then pressing its way into an excur- 
sion boat. Molly hurried on into the crowd 
which she seemed to think would hide her 
from her vindicitive pursuers. Abner Bean 
lost some time haggling over the reward de- 
manded by the motorcycle man. The money 
he had received for the roan colt was becom- 
ing -uncomfortably small. But he paid the 
•price. When he arrived at the side of the ex- 
cursion boat, it was just shoving away with 
its fugitive passenger. Abner made a desper- 
ate leap for the departing boat but fell short. 
His hold on the railing broke before anyone 
could reach him and the cold embrace of the 
briny deep changed the ardor of his thought 
to a cry for safety. A small launch near by 
came to his rescue and soon had him safe on 
board. A hurried discussion ensued between 
the wet man and the laimch man. The wet 
man’s arguments prevailed, for the launch 
set out in the wake of the excursion boat. 

The excursion crowd was an outing party of 
pleasure-seekers landing at a point around 

309 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 



beyond Sausalito. On* arriving there the boat 
emptied out its passengers as if they were the 
contents of a big scoop-shovel. The gay crowd 
streamed away together but Molly hastened 


onward along the beach to get as far away as 
possible from the agents of civilization. 

Abner landed soon after and lost much 
time in following the crowd. He had made a 
suitable exchange .with the launch man for 
dry clothes and the bargain had considerably 


310 



UNCLE JEREMIAH 


improved his appearance. Nevertheless, the 
friendly attitude of the crowd brought no con- 
solation to Abner. The ^‘leddy’^ he sought 
was not there. Someone gave him a clew and 
he was away after her along the shore. 

Meanwhile, Molly had quite definitely 
thought out her method of escaping from the 
desperate charges which her unlucky note to 
Val Hone had brought upon her. She would 
find a farm house where she could get her 
railroad ticket from Uncle Jeremiah and take 
the first train that would return her to the 
paradise back on the farm. She now loved 
every chicken, pig and cow on the farm. She 
thought of Abner. There was a fieeting feel- 
ing that maybe she even loved him. In the 
midst of these thoughts, a farm house that 
seemed to be just the right thing caught her 
eye. She decided to go over and see if she 
could not stay there for a week. She turned 
that way eager with the relief of final rest for 
the weary from worry. 

But half way up the long slope brought a 
frightful disappointment. Evidently a wire- 
less message had been received there and they 
were lying in wait for her. Two men in uni- 
form came around from behind the house, 
marching straight toward her with guns on 
their shoulders. She a lone woman! And yet 
imdoubtedly they had been ordered to shoot 


311 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


or they would not be coining to capture her 
with guns on their shoulders. Oh, that only 
Abner were near to defend her. She now re- 
alized how wrongly she had mistreated that 
devoted soul. In a moment she got control 
enough of her feet to turn them around, and 



then she showed what a scared woman can do 
in the way of sprinting for the lead. She went 
over the near hill top like a goat. 

Exhausted and out of breath she sank down 
upon a mat of grass in the side of a ravine 


312 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


near the shore, and closed her eyes to thank 
Providence for so benevolently giving her 
strength and speed to escape the dreaded 
fangs of the law. 

She was feeling quite well rested and was 
pondering over the problem of what to do 
next, when she heard a crunching sound out 
on the shore. It sounded like the landing of 
a boat. Was it possible that a warship had 
been sent after her! She started up in alarm 
and looked out through the mouth of the ra- 
vine to discover what new terror was to as- 
sail her. But the narrow view presented only 
a clear streak of the peaceful bay. Then a 
man appeared in view. It was not the dread- 
ed soldier, but the still worse form of Val 
Hone. He was too busy watching some one 
else up the shore to be noticing any one in so 
unexpected a place as up in the ravine. She 
did not wait to think out possibilities. To get 
away in the opposite direction was her im- 
mediate ambition. If the soldiers were to 
see her there near that man, it would be such 
proof of partnership in guilt with him that 
she need never hope pardon, even if she ever 
escaped alive. She fled up the dry bed of the 
pebbly ravine till it came out shallow between 
low banks in the side of the sloping plane. 
There she sat down to take breath when she 
saw the figure of Val Hone coming after her. 


313 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


How she wished this was good Fate managing 
things rather than bad Fate. But the wish was 
only a fleeting breath of better days. The 
evil was upon her. The soldiers would And 
them and she would never again see the chick- 
ens, or pigs, or Ab. 

‘^Go away!’’ she cried, as he came up near 
her. ^‘Go away! I don’t want you. It’s a 
lie. The gypsy was a devil. You are not my 
Fate. Go away!” 

But Val Hone had no idea of going away, 
till he had at least satisfled his curiosity. He 
came up to her as she stopped, too frightened 
and out of breath to move. 

Hello!” he exclaimed, ‘‘here is the little 
old dried up imp that has been dogging my 
steps like a nightmare.” 

As he was speaking, Molly saw a glorious 
sight. It was Abner Bean coming up the 
gulch. She did not betray her joy but it gave 
her spunk. Abner had at last , appeared when 
she needed him. But the uncomplimentary 
words SQ viciously spoken from one she had 
admired so much stung away her fear into a 
flghting attitude. 

“You old probate and unwhipped termin- 
al,” she cried, shaking her finger in his face. 
“If you touch me. I’ll scream and bring the 
soldiers I see coming over there.” 

She pointed in the direction opposite to the 


314 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


one from which Ah wa§ stealthily approach- 
ing him, now almost near enough to make a 
jump for him. 

Val Hone raised on his toes to look where 
she was pointing, when a head struck him in 



U. Molly gave a shout of joy. 

^^Still follerin’ and insultin’ this leddy,” 
cried the assailant as he turned the breathless 
man over on his back and sat down astride of 
his stomach, holding forth the man’s wrists 


315 



UNCLE JEREMIAH 


rigid at arm’s length above the captive’s 
head. 

Molly ran to the top of the near bank .and 
yelled. The two soldiers heard her and turned 
to look. She motioned them to come to her. 
They came on the run. She forgot to be 
afraid pf them until they started away with 
the prisoner weakly limping between them, 
with all the fight knocked out of him. Then 
Molly thought about the wireless message the 
soldiers had received to capture her. Maybe 
they didn’t get it. Anyway she decided not 
to mention it if they didn’t. Besides, perfect 
love casteth out fear. She had a defender. 
She clung so close to Ab that he became en- 
couraged enough to get his arm around her. 
She seemed to like it and he became abnorm- 
ally encouraged. At the fort, he asked one of 
the soldiers who put Yal Hone into the guard 
house, if there was anyone around there who 
could do the marrying act for a feller and his 
girl. The guard could tell him where to go in 
order to do that ve:^^ thing if he had a paper 
license to be married. 

‘‘Get a marriage license?” he said, aston- 
ished at any person thinking he had such a 
lack of foresight. “Why, man, the first thing I 
did when I got to San Frisky was to hunt out 
and get that very needs-cesity. I knew I’d 


316 


UNOIiB JEREMIAH 


have to marry that girl before I got out of the 
town/^ 

Molly had come up in time to hear him make 
the last remark. She looked up at him fondly. 

^^Oh me! Oh my!’’ she exclaimed in rapture. 
‘‘I didn’t know ’fore this that Abner Bean 
was a clairvoyant. Shore enough he can beat 
Fate. He knowed it all the time.” 

Ab looked wise. 

About two hours later the newly wedded 
pair, happy as spring lambs in a meadow, just 
after nightfall arrived at the Green Tree 
Hotel and inquired for Uncle Jeremiah. They 
were taken to a private dining room where an 
evening dinner party was in progress. Eig 
Veda was about to propose ,a toast to the re- 
united family of Uncle Jeremiah when Abner 
and Molly appeared in the scene. Molly 
whispered something to Uncle Jeremiah that 
Abner was too bashful to tell. Places were 
made for them at the table. Uncle Jeremiah 
announced what had happened and there was 
appreciative applause. The toast was drunk 
to the happy pair, with a characteristic speech 
by Eig Veda. Then Uncle Jeremiah had 
something else to announce and that was the 
engagement of Captain Mulford and Merrilee. 
Another toast was drunk to another eloquent 
speech by the toastmaster, Eig Veda. 

^‘One more,” said Eig Veda, ‘‘and then I 


317 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 


have nothing more to add but a certain invita- 
tion. I want to drink a toast to the hero and 
heroine of this lively experience we have been 
recently having as a stirring variation in the 
music of living. I drink to the courage and 
loyalty of Pickup and Paquita. Long may 
they live to develop and use the splendid en- 
ergy, beauty and benevolence of their youth. 

“And now,’’ continued Kig Veda, when 
this had been done, “I want you all, tomorrow 
afternoon at three o’clock, to meet me at the 
pier in the yacht harbor in the Pair grounds 
to be my guests for a cruise, as long as you 
may find it convenient, anywhere along the 
coast, in my yacht, which has just arrived 
through the Golden Gate, after its passage 
from New York, through the Panama Canal, 
on a journey around the world.” 

Uncle Jeremiah and his interesting family 
went on board their friend’s yacht at the ap- 
pointed time, and the last “San Frisky” saw 
of them that season was as they all stood to- 
gether looking out over the beautiful Exposi- 
tion and glorious bay, on their way out 
through the brilliant sheen of the Golden 
Gate, into the tender mercies of the great 
Pacific. 


318 


UNCLE JEREMIAH 



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